CHENNAI – In the 1870 Jules Verne classic “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” underwater explorer Captain Nemo predicted the mining of the ocean floor’s mineral bounty — zinc, iron, silver and gold. India is catching up with that only now as it prepares to unearth treasures down below, aiming to boost its economy. The floor of the world’s seas is scattered with vast beds of black potato-shaped polymetallic nodules comprising copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, iron and rare earth elements. These...

By Reuters NEW DELHI(Thomson Reuters Foundation) – From media to sports and business, a wave of #MeToo revelations has rocked India this year, but the movement has left the country’s male-dominated politics largely untouched – and that needs to change, activists say. Men rule the roost in the world’s largest democracy, where analysts and activists say harassment and exploitation of women are rife, including demands for sexual favours and character assassination. While the campaign has hit a...

NEW DELHI — The mother of a female student whose brutal gang rape sparked mass protests in India has said the country's #MeToo movement gives her hope things can change, as she marked the sixth anniversary of the fatal attack. Asha Singh said the nationwide outrage her daughter's ordeal provoked had helped create the conditions for Indian women to speak out about sexual misconduct, after a slew of accusations against high-profile men in recent months. "This (#MeToo in India) is the result of...

The mother of a female student whose brutal gang rape sparked mass protests in India has said the country's #MeToo movement gives her hope things can change, as she marked the sixth anniversary of the fatal attack. Asha Singh said the nationwide outrage her daughter's ordeal provoked had helped create the conditions for Indian women to speak out about sexual misconduct, after a slew of accusations against high-profile men in recent months. "This (#MeToo in India) is the result of that...

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI, Dec 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — From letters and postcard campaigns to meetings with lawmakers, modern slavery victims across India are pushing for the passage of a long-pending anti-trafficking bill amid fears it could be sidelined as general elections take center stage in parliament. Survivors from 11 states have turned campaigners in the last few months by roping in their communities to write more than 110,000 postcards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him...