-The Hindu Opposition parties must make a new anti-torture legislation part of their common programme Custodial torture is global, old and stubborn. Dismemberment was a method of torture practised with vigour in ancient India, crushing-by-elephant-foot another. The Arthashastra prescribes mental torture through swear-words with or without physical assaults. Death by a thousand cuts was ancient China’s speciality. The Tang Code (652 CE) describes judicial torture in detail. Ancient Japanese methods of torture...

-Economic and Political Weekly Are the ongoing debates on solutions to crop residue burning marred by policy confusion? While bio-compressed Natural Gas and ethanol producers want farmers to collect paddy straw from their farms to be supplied to plant locations, another lobby of machine sellers wants the straw to be processed in the fields itself. Would the success of one commercial proposition lead to the failure of the other? Please click here...

-Scroll.in Dealers claimed that government-run oil firms are threatening to block supplies if the information is not provided. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has asked 10 lakh employees at petrol pumps across the country for personal details like their caste, religion and which constituency they are from, NDTV reported on Tuesday. The information is ostensibly meant for a skill development programme, but dealers have threatened legal action, claiming that...

-The Hindu Villagers resolve to continue fight against oil major; fringe groups criticise Centre KUMBAKONAM (Tamil Nadu): Residents of Kadiramangalam village in Thanjavur district, where a sit-in protest entered its 365th day on Saturday, have renewed their resolve to oust the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) from the village to protect the environment and their livelihood. A section of the villagers has been holding a relay sit-in protest at the Ayyanar temple...

-TheWire.in With no cylinders sanctioned, traditional cooking techniques are still used. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the flagship programme under the aegis of the Central government and promoted as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative, is a much celebrated policy. It garnered praise in the WHO pollution report just last month, and a National Geographic documentary – chronicling the impact of the yojana on the lives of four women across India – is...