-The Times of India PATNA: Bihar human rights commission (BHRC) has issued notices to state DGP Abhayanand and Nawada district SP Lalan Mohan Prasad, seeking their response within two weeks on two news reports which "reveal a concerted attempt on the part of Nawada police to undermine the dignity of a lawyer and the primacy of the judiciary" and "to muzzle the press for bringing the matter in public domain". Taking suo...

-Outlook The Delhi Police today opposed the media plea seeking access to the trial in the December 16 gang rape case telling the High Court that the enquiry and trial in every rape case should be held in-camera. Appearing for the police before Justice Rajiv Shakdher, Special Public Prosecutor Dayan Krishnan countered the claim of petitioners that this case is "exceptional" and the media has an independent right derived from the Constitution. "The...

-The Asian Age Sonia Gandhi’s economic and political ideology may have apparently triumphed over that of Manmohan Singh. The neo-liberal finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram may be conveying an impression that he’s turned socialist with a vengeance by increasing taxes on the rich in the run-up to the 16th general elections. But the truth is that Mr Chidambaram has made certain assumptions about subsidies, inflation and the expected growth of gross domestic product...

-The Times of India The UPA government is likely to reintroduce the Land Acquisition Bill with a mammoth 157 amendments in the budget session of Parliament. Out of the 26 'substantive' measure the government plans to push through includes a provision that in case of acquisition for urbanization purposes, 20% of the developed land would be reserved and offered to the original owners at a price equal to the cost of acquisition...

-The Times of India Amid the debate on a super-rich tax, the pre-Budget Economic Survey on Wednesday argued against raising tax rates significantly; instead, it said that the focus should be on people who have a taxable income but don't pay any income tax. "It is much better to achieve a higher tax-GDP ratio by broadening the base which is taxed rather than increasing marginal tax rates significantly — higher and higher...