-The Economic Times India may have policy of preferring free and open source applications, but still the world's largest software maker Microsoft and others, including Adobe, Norton and McAfee, have managed to weasel their way into some of the largest government purchases in the country's history. Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are in the process of procuring over eight million laptops preloaded with proprietary software in clear violation of India's national...

-The Economic Times A balance between the need to unleash animal spirits and the larger issues of ethical governance is essential for the country to move ahead, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh tells ET in an exclusive interview. * Is unleashing animal spirits still the main focus of the government? Unleashing the animal spirits is all very well but it has to be in an ethical framework. Markets is all about...

-The Economist A steadily rising Muslim population continues to fall behind IT TELLS you something hopeful perhaps that, for all the horror unleashed when two bombs laid by presumed militant Islamists ripped through a crowd in Hyderabad on February 21st, India’s public response has been muted. The blasts killed 16 and injured 117. Both the method of the attack (bombs in metal tiffin boxes strapped to bicycles) and its location (near a...

-The Times of India KOCHI: The Kerala high court has ruled that the Arya Samaj cannot conduct marriages between people if they are not followers of the Samaj and it will not be legally valid if it takes place. Arya Samaj mandirs are found in all Indian cities and towns and solemnize love, arranged, inter-religion and inter-caste marriages. The ruling was given by a division bench of justices Pius C Kuriakose and P...

-The Times of India An evening dedicated to her 'fighting spirit' filled with lavish praise and thunderous applause ended in disappointment for Nirbhaya's family. The family invited to accept an award on behalf of Nirbhaya had hoped to appeal to President PranabMukherjee to hang the juvenile accused in the December 16 gang rape case. However, they did not get a chance to do so. The President on Friday gave away the Rani...