Last week's clash near Posco's project site in Odisha is brewing trouble for the South Korean steelmaker and the state government, with legislators demanding a probe into why the main accused in the clash has not been arrested. State legislators on Monday demanded the immediate arrest of Bapi Sarkhel, a Paradip-based contractor alleged to have masterminded Wednesday's clash, which left one dead and 25 injured. "When the police arrested local...

Kandhamal was not a spontaneous outburst of mass anger. And the victims still await justice. It was a terrifying Christmas in 2007 for tribal and dalit Christians who live in the second poorest, deeply forested district of Odisha, Kandhamal. Long-smouldering violence targeting them exploded, and was to continue to rage for another full year. During this time, 600 villages were ransacked, 5,600 houses were looted and burnt, 54,000 persons rendered homeless,...

Six months after she died, police in Bhopal have acted on the death of a two-year-old, malnourished girl. They have booked her parents, charging them with “causing death by negligence”. Activists say that this is perhaps the first instance in India where parents have been blamed for death caused by malnourishment. Adviser to Supreme Court commissioners in the right to food case Sachin Jain said the administration always tried to push malnutrition...

-ANI The statistics for farmer suicides in India are as striking as they are shameful. One farmer suicide every 30 minutes in 2009, screamed a NYU School of Law report earlier this year. If one accepts that many suicides also go unreported, even this shocking statistics is perhaps an under-estimation. Why, then, would another three suicides, this time in Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad District, be newsworthy? For one, the suicides took place during the...

Justice B H Marlapalle, one of the most outspoken and distinguished judges of the Bombay high court, has set a new benchmark not only for members of the judiciary but even for high-ranking bureaucrats. A day after retirement, he vacated his official quarters and surrendered his vehicle too.  As per the norms, a judge can retain his official accommodation and vehicle for three months after retirement. During his career spanning over...