-The Times of India A fragmented polity and a vitiated public sphere characterise today's India. The question that is making the rounds is whether we have become an intolerant nation. On all the networks, one strident anchor outdoes his or her shrill peer in raising it. Obviously, there can be no simple 'yes' or 'no' to such a question; it all depends on the context in which it is posed. Yes,...

-The Indian Express On the Delhi rape case, let’s keep the indignation, disturb legislative slumbers The Verma Committee Report (VCR) speaks against civil society and political rape cultures. The poignancy and urgency of the VCR owes much to the experience of conversing with rape survivors and traumatised children. A precious message of the VCR is this: one may not take law reform seriously without taking human and social suffering equally seriously. The committee...

-CNN-IBN While the Cabinet has approved a new law after examining Justice Verma Committee recommendations on punishing sex offenders, women groups have called the ordinance a dilution of the Verma panel recommendations. This came as the ordinance passed by the Cabinet remained silent on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Reports say that women groups will protest against the ordinance in the capital. Meanwhile, former IPS officer and activist Kiran Bedi welcomed...

-Live Mint Cabinet-approved Bill may stir up controversy after it left out a key proposal to bring CBI within its purview On the day that it approved the anti-graft Lokpal Bill, the first murmurs of dissent against finance minister P. Chidambaram’s call for expenditure cuts surfaced in the Union cabinet—over the seemingly piffling amount of `90.38 crore.   The cabinet eventually overruled the finance ministry’s objections and approved the infusion of the money for...

-Reporters without Borders Access the 2013 World Press Freedom Index here. After the “Arab springs” and other protest movements that prompted many rises and falls in last year’s index, the 2013 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index marks a return to a more usual configuration. The ranking of most countries is no longer attributable to dramatic political developments. This year’s index is a better reflection of the attitudes and intentions of...