-The Telegraph   The Supreme Court today directed the government to provide information about all mercy petitions pending before the President and governors. An apex court bench passed the ruling while hearing the plea of Punjab militant Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar. Bhullar wants his death sentence to be commuted to life term because of inordinate delay in deciding on his mercy plea. The bench, headed by Justice G.S. Singhvi, observed that it could not confine...

The finance ministry is putting shape to a new social security scheme for unorganized sector workers, creating for the first time a safety net for millions of underpaid and overworked people, many of whom living in abject poverty.  The ministry has discussed with the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and the four state run non-life insurance companies the contours of this scheme that will provide life insurance, health cover and retirement pension...

-The Times of India   The state government on Friday chargesheeted suspended Bhartpur district collector and superintendent of police in connection with the Gopalgarh violence. The collector, Kunal Krishna an IAS officer of 2003 batch, and IPs officer Hinglaj Dan were suspended for laxity in their duties while controlling the situation in Gopalgarh which claimed 10 lives. On September 14, the small town in Bharatpur district witnessed violent clashes between Meo Muslims and Gujjars...

They are the children of migrant labourers, security guards, maids and gardeners for whom Access to formal education would have been a distant goal, had it not been for two women who started teaching them under a tree in Sector 56, two years ago. The twosome are effectively giving these underprivileged children their right to education without any fanfare. From a measly five-six students, their number has now grown to...

In this Idea Exchange moderated by Senior Editor Archna Shukla, I&B minister Ambika Soni speaks about self-regulation by the media, empowering the Press Council of India and the Congress party’s stand on corruption Archna Shukla: There is a growing perception that the government is unhappy with media criticism. The editor of a leading English daily publicly claimed that government advertisements have been stopped to his publication. Is the government being vindictive? I have...