Reports

Women from minority and indigenous communities are targeted for rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and killings specifically because of their ethnic, religious or indigenous identity, Minority Rights Group International says in its 2011 annual report launched last week. In the flagship annual publication, State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011, MRG documents cases from across the world showing how women from minority and indigenous communities often face...

The Supreme Court of India’s directive to the Chhattisgarh government to disband and disarm 6,500 special police officers (SPOs) engaged in anti-Maoist operations is a slap on the latter’s face. On Tuesday, a Supreme Court bench ordered the Union government “to cease and desist, forthwith, from using any of its funds in supporting, directly or indirectly the recruitment of SPOs for the purposes of engaging in any form of counter-insurgency activities against Maoist/Naxalite groups”. SPOs, also...

India has introduced a new e-waste rule that makes environmentally sound management and disposal of electronic waste mandatory. The E-waste (Management and Handling) Rule, 2011 places responsibility on the producers for the entire lifecycle of a product, from design to disposal. Apart from Extended Producer Responsibility principle, the rule is a significant step towards international standards of Restriction of Hazardous substances in electronics. The rules were notified by the Ministry of...

The online travel audience in India is rising, according to comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world. It found that the number of visitors to travel sites increased 32 per cent in the past year to 18.5 million visitors as more Indians are turning to the web for their travel needs. “The online travel category continues to show strong growth in India,” Kedar Gavane, comScore Director for India said on Friday. “The convenience of booking trips and locating travel information online...

The Indian government has commissioned an in-depth study to estimate unaccounted income and wealth being held within and outside India. This study, engaging three institutions, aims to bring out the nature of activities that encourage money laundering and its ramifications on national security. The study has already been in progress since March this year, and is expected to be completed within a period of 18 months. The study, according to an official release, is being undertaken by the National...

The clearance of 40 projects by the National Board for Wildlife in a matter of three hours may or may not mean something. What's more interesting and actually of more environmental significance are the voices of reason that went unheard in the bargain. The first concerned the diversion of 7.2871 ha of forest land for construction of a ropeway from Bhavnath Taleti to Ambaji Temple in Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary by Usha Breco Ltd, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the...

Both Brazil and India have a lot in common as economies of the future, BRIC experts would like to have us believe. But what they invariably fail to tell us is about the ruthless marginalising and exploitation of indigenous people that have been taking place in these two countries in the pursuit of growth. A community of Guarani Indians in Brazil, however, have decided that enough is enough and have retaken part of its ancestral land, having lived by the side of a highway for a year and a half...

The much-awaited launch of Until My Freedom Has Come - The New Intifada in Kashmir happened. The editor of the compilation, Sanjay Kak, had been warned by the publisher about people walking out of book launches quite early in the evening. That didn't happen on May 25, 2011. The Gulmohar hall at India Habitat Centre remained choc a bloc till the end. And that too with the book being already available in stores. That's what made the evening special. The recording I have here has been split into...

This ought to be slap on the face of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. American diplomats consider the Indian government "unwilling and unable" to "end the exploitation and victimisation" of the country’s 84 million tribal people. This will be difficult for the government to dismiss since these are revelations that have been made in the secret cables that have been released by The Hindu. The cables reveal that the American government feared this neglect "plays into the hands of Naxalites."...

India has been ranked 135th in the Global Peace Index 2011 released on Wednesday. India ranks below countries like Myanmar (133), Nepal (95) and Bangladesh (83). It, of course, is better placed than Pakistan (146), Russia (147), Afghanistan (150), Iraq (152) and Somalia (153). The GPI is one of the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness. It gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society, and militarisation in 153 countries by taking into account 23...