-The Indian Express Nearly 45 trillion bidis and cigarettes manufactured over the past 100 years in the country are expected to be responsible for nearly 100 million deaths of adult Indians, a recent study has found. "Our calculations are derived from using the most conservative estimates and yet present mortality estimates which are significant and alarming," researchers Pranay G Lal, Nevin C Wilson and Prakash C Gupta said in a study published...

-The Indian Express One of the three formulae used by the Comptroller and Auditor General to calculate the loss to the government for selling 2G spectrum on a first-come-first-served basis was suggested by BJP leader and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Murli Manohar Joshi. When the team conducting the audit said they “are not on strong ground” in basing the loss on the formula suggested, they were told by CAG headquarters...

-The Hindu Act needs urgent amendments in order to plug loopholes in implementation: Union Minister The Union Government will bring in amendments to the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, during the Budget session of Parliament next year. Addressing a National Dalit Adivasi Sammelan at Ramlila Maidan here on Friday, Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Kumari Selja said the Act needed urgent amendments in order to plug loopholes in...

-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...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Thursday said it had directed appointment of retired judges as heads of information commissions at the Centre and state level to ensure their independence as many were headed by persons who "have been in the good books of government". "You will find the chief information commissioners, both at the Centre and state level, are persons who have been in the good books of the...