-The Telegraph Jorhat: Naglo and Lonliam, two nondescript villages in the Lazo area of Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh, have taken a path-breaking decision that could stir others like them out of their opium-induced stupor. The two villages have agreed to give up opium cultivation and will sign an understanding with the district administration to that effect when five frontier districts, including Tirap, of the state, bordering Myanmar and China, join hands...

-The Times of India After over a year of campaigning, dozens of protests and exposes against ministers, Arvind Kejriwal officially entered the political arena on Monday. Negating the perception that only big parties can draw hefty funds, the newly launched Aam Aadmi Party collected more than 1.10 crore on the day of the launch, with former law minister Shanti Bhushan alone donating Rs 1 crore. Day one also saw supporters pitching in...

-Farmlandgrab.org Oxfam’s Phil Bloomer reports on the shocking scandal of (mostly) secretive land-grabbing, usually from those least able to defend their rights Land grabbing has fast become a major threat to poor communities in Africa, Asia and South America. Poverty-stricken women and men are being driven from their homes and the land they rely on to grow food to eat and make a living, usually without compensation. In many cases this is...

-The Hindustan Times A farmer's wife's suicide, another farmer's attempt to end his life, police lathicharge and farmers continuing agitation against land acquisition for a thermal power plant has made Katni a political hotbed.   The BJP and the Congress have locked horns over the development and JD (U) is trying to consolidate its position over the issue. The impact of the farmers' agitation against land acquisition for Welspun Energy Madhya Pradesh...

-The Hindustan Times Katni land acquisition row turned ugly on Tuesday (Diwali), with a woman fatally immolating herself after alleged threats from the administration to vacate her agricultural land to facilitate its acquisition for a thermal power plant in Katni district, more than 450 kilometres north east of Bhopal. The villagers reportedly staged a dharna with the woman's body refusing to cremate it until the guilty are punished and land acquisition process...