A new book tracks down the women who stripped naked 12 years ago to protest against rape and rights abuses under AFSPA. Banamallika Choudhury reviews Mothers of Manipur.

The International Day of Peace, celebrated on September 21 every year, has little meaning for people living in conflict areas. Like the Manipuri women, who feel that decades-old violence in Manipur has not only increased but taken many different forms. Anjulika Thingnam speaks to some of the feisty women of Meira Paibi (women vigilante) groups of Manipur to find out more.

As the refugee crisis deepens in Syria, visuals of millions of people hoping to catch a train to a better life fill the media space. Shalini Bhutani reflects on the state of refugee policies in the South Asian region while remembering her own father’s experience weeks before the India-Pakistan partition.

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) registers its dissent over the new Human DNA Profiling Bill draft. Sunil Abraham, Executive Director of CIS, explains how the Bill does not address the privacy concerns despite a seemingly powerful language.

Tripura’s revocation of the AFSPA is certainly a positive move from a human rights perspective. But it leaves unaddressed the issue of justice for those whose lives were torn apart by the excesses under the Act, writes Anjuman Ara Begum.

The Centre may have rolled back its sudden unilateral decision to accord ‘disturbed area’ status to Arunachal Pradesh under the AFSPA 1958, but that does little to restore confidence and good faith between the state and the government of India. Anjuman Ara Begum analyses why.

On 18 March, at a discussion organised by Daksh India, Nick Robinson from the Harvard Law School explored in detail the phenomenon of judicial delays, sharing insights from his work in both India and the US. Pavan Kulkarni summarises the important points raised.

Around 40 RTI activists in the country have been killed in recent years, several of them after the passage of the Whistleblowers Protection Act. Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya explores why the latter law has been unable to achieve its stated objective.

The 1200-MW Teesta III hydroelectric project has already seen years of missed deadlines and huge cost overruns, but more serious threats loom ahead as the promoter fights its own internal battles. Soumik Dutta has more on the various problems plaguing the project.

A recent UGC-sponsored seminar on the incidence of cyber crime, hosted in Kolkata, drew attention to the safeguards to be adopted as also the right procedure to be followed in order to obtain redress. Amrita Mukherjee reports.

With a recent drug sample report confirming the presence of rat poison in medicines administered to Chhattisgarh’s hapless tubectomy victims, it is yet another wake-up call for India to address the threats posed by its $4.25-billion fake drugs market. Tanvi Bhatikar lays out some stark facts.

The Karnataka government’s attempts to reintegrate Naxals into the mainstream through the provision of a surrender and rehabilitation package have met with only limited success. Akshatha M reports on the realities on the ground.