The internet's a brave new world in so many ways-driven by the young invigorating the old. About 150 million Indians are on the web now. Earlier, to express ideas publicly, you had to go through a newspaper, magazine, TV or a radio station before. The guardians of media regulated how such ideas were expressed, and published your ideas if you were important enough, if you followed the outlet's editorial line,...
12:10 PM, Jan 11, 2013
Thiruvananthapuram: India needs to revive indigenous traditions of growing food and "privilege community-based" food storage and distribution to battle the problems of hunger and starvation, noted social activist Binayak Sen said. Sen called for changes in the Food Security Bill to ensure food for all. "Once the Food Security Bill becomes an Act, instead of taking us further towards food security, it will take us several steps backwards," Sen contended,...
04:13 PM, Oct 08, 2012
New Delhi: Now that Kanpur-based cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has been charged with sedition for his cartoons that 'mocked' the country's political class, Parliament and the national emblem, one has to bear in mind that the word "sedition" does not actually figure anywhere in the Indian Constitution. It is an offence against the state as enumerated in the Indian Penal Code which is an 1860 Act ratified by the British to...
12:07 PM, Sep 10, 2012
It's true rather than traitorous to acknowledge that India will not win many medals at the Olympics. In track and field events we are almost ...
11:41 AM, Jul 27, 2012
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday suspended the life sentence of CPI (Maoist) activist Narayan Sanyal, held guilty of committing sedition by a Chhattisgarh court in 2010, and granted bail to him. A bench of justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya gave bail to 78-year-old Sanyal, considering his age and the fact that he has already spent over six years in jail since his arrest in 2006. The bench...
02:46 PM, May 07, 2012
Kolkata: Describing the eviction of people from slums in Nonadanga in the eastern part of the city as a "tragedy and great crime", human rights activist Binayak Sen on Sunday accused the West Bengal government of being inhuman. "It (eviction) is a great tragedy and a great crime committed. It is really inhumane on the part of the government to displace the people without providing viable alternative and livelihood options,"...
12:40 AM, Apr 30, 2012
Kolkata: Describing the eviction of people from slums in Nonadanga in the eastern part of the city as a "tragedy and great crime", human rights activist Binayak Sen Sunday accused the West Bengal government of being inhuman. "It (eviction) is a great tragedy and a great crime committed. It is really inhumane on the part of the government to displace the people without providing viable alternative and livelihood options," Sen...
09:11 PM, Apr 29, 2012
New Delhi: Human Rights activist Dr Binayak Sen has appealed for the release of the Chhattisgarh District Collector. In a letter, he said, "I earnestly appeal to the CPI (Maoist) that the abducted collector of Sukma Shri Alex Menon be released unconditionally as soon as possible, and that he should be maintained unharmed until his release; and all medical facilities be extended to him." Binayak Sen also called for demilitarization...
06:47 PM, Apr 23, 2012
Kochi: Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the youth wing of the BJP, on Sunday raised slogans against the presence of human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen at a seminar in Kochi. As Sen arrived at the Law College campus to address a national seminar on "Right to help vis-a-vis the vulnerable population", the ABVP activists staged the protest calling him 'anti-national' and 'supporter of Maoists'. Waving the national...
10:57 PM, Mar 18, 2012
Jaipur: Civil rights activist Kavita Srivastava's house in Jaipur was raided on Monday morning by the Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh police. The police raided her properties early in the morning after it was alleged that she was sheltering Maoists. After the raids, Srivastava wrote an open letter to the media saying that she was being targeted because she supported the struggle for restoration of human rights in the country. "I have...
12:46 PM, Oct 03, 2011
Lucknow: Human rights activist Binayak Sen said on Sunday that he will soon undertake a nationwide signature campaign to scrap the sedition law under which he was booked in Chattisgarh. Sen, who is also the vice president of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), proposes to mobilise at least one million signatures that would be sent to parliament with a demand to repeal section 124 of the Indian Penal...
10:50 PM, Sep 11, 2011
Kolkata: Human rights activist Binayak Sen, released on bail by the Supreme Court after his conviction by a lower court for sedition, on Monday said sedition law should be "completely" repealed. "The laws of sedition in the country should be completely repealed," Sen said at a seminar on 'State of Freedom in Democracy' in Kolkata. "Though I have become a cause celebrity, there are thousands more like me who are...
12:54 PM, Aug 01, 2011
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Piyush Guha, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment along with civil rights activist Binayak Sen in a sedition case. The vacation bench of justices GS Singhvi and CK Prasad suspended the sentence of life imprisonment and directed Guha's release on bail. The bench also directed Guha to furnish a bail bond of Rs two lakh and two sureties...
12:30 PM, May 31, 2011
Mumbai: Activist Binayak Sen on Monday demanded repeal of sedition laws, saying they were being used to "suppress" the voice of the people. "Sedition laws are not benefiting free people in free polity and they should be repealed. The law is being used to suppress the voice of the people," Sen, currently on bail after being convicted on charges of sedition by a Chhattisgarh court for his alleged links to...
09:00 AM, May 31, 2011
London: The plight of Binayak Sen, the social activist slapped with controversial sedition charges, is symptomatic of the problems faced by India's adivasis, Cambridge University researchers studying his case have said. A study on the case of the Indian public health expert, recently bailed from prison, by Department of Sociology Jonathan Kennedy and Lawrence King researchers has been published in the latest edition of Social Science and Medicine. They argue...
05:52 PM, May 25, 2011
New Delhi: Civil rights activist Dr Binayak Sen has agreed to join the Planning Commission's committee on health. The 40-member steering committee on health is expected to hold first meeting on Wednesday. Convicted for sedition and out on bail now, Sen will be giving his inputs for the 12th Five-year plan on health related issues. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has refused to attend any Planning Commission meeting to protest...
11:56 AM, May 25, 2011
Kolkata: Human rights activist Binayak Sen, who is on bail from the Supreme court, on Tuesday said he is still to be absolved of the sedition charges and is not certain will he remain out of jail. "I have been merely granted bail and not absolved of the charges. The case is still pending at Chhattisgarh High Court. The Supreme Court only granted bail to me as it observed that...
08:42 PM, May 24, 2011
Gwangju: Human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen, who is out on bail in Chhattisgarh, has been honoured with the Gwangju human rights award, South Korea's highest civilian award for democratic rights activists of Asia. High school students in Gwangju have an unusual class for high school students for this is what happened to those who protested against dictatorial rule by then President Chung Doo-Hwan thirty years ago on May 18....
01:45 PM, May 22, 2011
New Delhi: Elated over his appointment as member of a key committee of the Planning Commission, civil rights activist Binayak Sen on Thursday vowed to do his best to provide "equity" for deprived communities in health-related issues. 61-year-old Sen, convicted on charge of sedition by a court in Chhattisgarh, was on Wednesday appointed as member of one of the steering committees to give his inputs for 12th Plan (2012-17) on...
06:31 PM, May 12, 2011
New Delhi: Planning Commission on Wednesday said it has appointed civil rights activist Binayak Sen, convicted for sedition, on board of one of its steering committee to give input for 12th Plan (2012-17) on health related issues. "We have appointed Binayak Sen as member of the steering committee on health to advice for 12th Plan. It was Planning Commission's proposal to appoint him," Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters....
05:53 PM, May 11, 2011
