-The Hindu Dissenters of the past in India were great moral agitators, introducing social, intellectual and spiritual turbulence in public life. Would they have survived today? Dissent is not only the “safety valve of democracy”, as Justice D.Y. Chandrachud reminded us, but vital for meaningful social life. Societies stultify when everyone converges on a single opinion or when official stories go unchallenged. Flaws congeal and social rot sets in. Right or wrong,...

-Outlook Cases of arrest of Adivasis collecting forest produce for their livelihood abound in the area and they lived in constant fear of being dispossessed of their land. Now with the FRA’s legal force on their side, their struggle for their land continues. Ten years after he first filed his claim under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), Tentulipadar forest rights committee president Jama Majhi is still waiting for a paper declaring his...

-Down to Earth Can pre-poll sops like giving smart phones with internet connectivity to farmers increase farm income? Last week, thousands of farmers and agricultural workers poured into the National Capital to attract and focus the attention of the Central government to their demands. The Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally, organised by farmers’ organization, All India Kisan Sabha, and the All India Agriculture Workers Union, broke all records as far as crowd numbers...

-National Herald Talking about farmers’ issues, P Sainath said, “It is not just an agrarian crisis, it is now a national crisis. The Modi govt has been engaged in fooling the nation. They are telling lies shamelessly” The founder editor of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), the former Rural Affairs editor of The Hindu and author of the much acclaimed book ‘Everybody loves a Good Drought’, P Sainath, has recorded rural...

-Business Standard Heavy rainfall forecast over the next 24-48 hrs in UP Lucknow: More than a dozen districts have been flooded following heavy rainfall in Uttar Pradesh and the adjoining hilly regions over the past few days, as the toll went up to 325. More than 21 people were reported to have died over the last 48 hours in flood-related incidents, including drowning and wall collapse, across the state, including Shahjahanpur, Amethi...