-The Times of India While cases of malaria and chikungunya show a dip across India, dengue cases have started to climb steadily. Official records of the Union health ministry reveal that there has been a massive increase of dengue infection in the country this year. India had recorded 15,535 cases and 96 deaths in 2009, but the corresponding figure till November, 2012, stood at over 35,000 cases and 216 fatalities. Tamil Nadu has recorded...

-Outlook Shillong: A daily labourer hailing from Assam was allegedly stoned to death and another labourer seriously injured after he was beaten up near here, police said today. On November 20, three labourers (two from Assam) were abducted from their work place at Mawlai in the outskirt of the city by some people, who whisked them away in a taxi to an isolated spot at Umbir village near the scenic Umiam lake,...

-The Hindu By not publicly disclosing the reasons for rejecting Ajmal Kasab’s mercy petition, Pranab Mukherjee MISsed an excellent opportunity to contribute to the rule of law President Pranab Mukherjee’s decision to reject the mercy petition submitted by the lone convict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, is an instance of how public perceptions about a convict’s guilt can camouflage the government’s duty to explain the decision. The...

-Outlook Concerned over the health hazards likely to be caused by cell phone towers, the National Green Tribunal has restrained several telecom firms from setting them up without following mandatory provisions of law and taking perMISsion from the competent authority. "Considering gravity of allegations levelled and health hazard likely to be caused, we direct that no construction of cell phone communication towers shall be made without following mandatory provisions of law and necessary...

-The Hindu Geeta Devi’s neat Hindi signature is written below her photograph – a shy-looking woman with a dupatta covering her head – in an affidavit duly notarised in Haridwar last month. Dehradun district resident Manju smiles out of the photograph on her affidavit, where she states she is just 36 years old. According to the government of Uttarakhand, both Manju and Geeta Devi are dead. After all, both women are manual...