-The Telegraph Lessons to take away from the two recent calamities in NorthEast It is never easy to rationalise tragedy. The two witnessed recently in the Northeast are no exceptions. One, the Assam floods in which the state’s two major rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Barak, and their tributaries wreaked havoc, killing nearly 200 people and, at one point, putting close to 4.5 million people in danger of starvation and disease. Two,...

-Newsclick.in As landslides plague Garhwal Himalayas, geologist YP Sundriyal says it confirms scientists’ fear that geologically weak areas will destabilise during monsoons. Leading geologist Prof YP Sundriyal teaches the subject at the Hemavati Bahuguna Garhwal University. In this interview with NewsClick, Sundriyal, who specialises in the Garhwal region of the Himalayan range, expresses concern about the rising frequency of landslides. He believes the government must set up a special fund to maintain...

-The Telegraph The victims include a child and six women, aged between seven and 52, and a newly married couple Bolpur (Birbhum): The charred bodies of at least eight persons were found in two houses at Bogtui village on the outskirts of Birbhum’s Rampurhat on Tuesday amid allegations that they were burnt alive in retaliation to the killing of Bhadu Sheikh, a Trinamul leader, on Monday night. Calcutta High Court steps in, to...

-The Telegraph Anticipating an attempt to bring the bill to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the Congress has issued a whip to its members to be present in the House all day  The government on Monday used its brute majority in the Lok Sabha to railroad a bill that provides for Aadhaar-linking of the electoral rolls, allowing just nominal discussion amid a din and attracting Opposition charges of “killing democracy”. Critics of the Election...

-Scroll.in While quiet olive branches have been extended between communities, there have been no major demonstrations. “Hundred percent of my friends are Kashmiri Muslim,” said the 29-year-old who lives in the densely packed downtown area of Srinagar. Theirs is in the only Kashmiri Pandit family in the locality. He lives with his mother and sister in their ancestral home in downtown Srinagar, one of the few Kashmiri Pandit families who stayed back after...