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AERO dies by suicide in Kolkata, family alleges extreme election duty pressure and humiliation

A 48-year-old Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) died by suicide in South Kolkata’s Bansdroni area after consuming pesticide, the tragic death of Malabika Roy Bhattacharyya has sparked serious concerns regarding the immense pressure placed on government officials tasked with SIR/Election duties, with her family explicitly blaming the ECI for the extreme workload

Protest outside Delhi HC gate over bail in Unnao rape case, survivor’s mother asks for maximum punishment

Protesters gathered near the court premises, raising slogans and expressing opposition to the bail order

Free Speech in India 2025: What the Free Speech Collective report reveals about a year of silencing

Based on data documenting 14,875 violations, the Free Speech Collective’s latest report traces how killings, arrests, mass censorship, corporate pressure and regulatory overreach combined to shrink India’s public sphere in 2025

Out with MNREGA: Hitting the Poor for a Six

The author, brings attention to crucial issues affecting society and state through his unique brand of satire

Rajasthan panchayat in Jalore district bans camera phones for daughters-in-law

A village panchayat in Rajasthan's Jalore district has prohibited daughters-in-law and young women from 15 villages from using phones with cameras starting January 26 which is also India’s Republic Day, the day the Indian Constitution came into force. Instead, they will only be allowed to use keypad phones instead of smartphones; explaining the rationale, Sujanaram Chaudhary said the community believes that excessive smartphone use by women leads to prolonged screen exposure for children living with them

“Let there be CHRISTMAS…”!

December 2025Let there be Christmas to help us realise...

20 years of FRA 2006, J and K appoints Tribal Ministry as Nodal agency

Despite the Union government’s tardy approach since the passage of the historic Forest Rights Act in 2006, states such as Jammu and Kashmir are now taking the lead in securing indigenous land rights. Groups including the Wullar Bachav Front and the All India Union of Forest Working Peoples (AIUWFP) have been engaging with the state administration on the issue

Maharashtra: Seven districts saw 14,526 child deaths in three years says Govt

In sharp contrast to other development parametres, these high infant mortality figures, reveal an institutional malaise that needs urgent addressing

Mobile as Opium: A Nation Sedated By Screens

The Late Prof M. P. Manmathan (1915–1994) belonged to...

Bombay HC bail for Hany Babu signals a critical reassessment of the Bhima Koregaon Case

After nearly five years of incarceration under the UAPA, the High Court’s decision marks a pivotal shift in a prosecution dogged by forensic uncertainty, procedural delay and mounting constitutional concerns

Nearly 50 lakh names flagged for deletion in West Bengal, state government announces Rs. 2 Lakh relief for SIR-linked deaths, CM Mamta Banerjee launches...

The SIR flagged almost 50 lakh names in West Bengal as potentially removable from the voters’ list, triggering a wave of anxiety among the electors, 39 deaths the state links to “SIR panic,” the TMC government has announced compensation and block-level help camps from December 12 to assist affected residents

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“Inside the SIR”: Booklet flags ‘mechanical disenfranchisement’ in electoral roll revision

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Censorship and the Drumbeats of Hate: Mapping the state of free speech ahead of the 2026 polls

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AERO dies by suicide in Kolkata, family alleges extreme election duty pressure and humiliation

A 48-year-old Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) died by suicide in South Kolkata’s Bansdroni area after consuming pesticide, the tragic death of Malabika Roy Bhattacharyya has sparked serious concerns regarding the immense pressure placed on government officials tasked with SIR/Election duties, with her family explicitly blaming the ECI for the extreme workload

UP’s syncretic warrior cults facing Hindutva challenge

Be it the attack on the Gogamedi shrine in the Hanumangarh district of northern Rajasthan or the Neja Mela in the Sambhal district of western Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva’s systemic attack on India’s syncretic traditions, past and present, reveals its rigid and Brahmanical ideological orientation: imposition of a strictly hierarchical, exclusionary and structured notion of faith and practice

No Hearing, No Notice, Just Deletion: How Bengal’s SIR Erased a Decorated IAF Officer

The removal of Wing Commander Md Shamim Akhtar, who served the nation for 17 years, during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) highlights a systemic lack of due process that threatens the voting rights of even the most distinguished citizens

An Adivasi woman once in bonded labour now serves her village as a Sarpanch

As India marks 50 years of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, cases of bonded labour still surface in states like Telangana where many workers in sectors such as agriculture, brick kilns, fishing and construction remain trapped in debt and coercion; here the author reflects on a transformative journey of an Adivasi woman who serves as a Sarpanch.