-The Times of India BHOPAL: It may not be a sexist remark, but exchanges between lawmakers during the Zero Hour in the Madhya Pradesh assembly on Friday did indicate that some of them appreciate women behind "ghunghat". The reference to "ghunghat" (veil) came during a calling attention motion when BJP MLA from Amarwada constituency in Chhindwara district, Prem Narayan Thakur, demanded regularisation of observers working for the different education schemes. Thakur was previously...

-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...

-Pragoti The magnificent victory of the CPI(M)-led Left Front in Tripura - winning 50 out of the 60 seats – and the success of the LF candidate in the Nalhati by-election in West Bengal has been interpreted as a “re-emergence” of the Left parties by a senior CPI(M) leader. This does not seem to be a rigorous assessment. While the fifth consecutive win by the LF in Tripura is a matter of...

-The Hindu New Delhi examining Rome’s decision which may hit ties Kochi: Italy on Monday refused to return two of its marines being tried in India for killing two fishermen while on duty aboard a merchant ship. The move caught India by surprise as the marines had been let off once before and had returned. The Foreign Office said it was examining the communication received late in the night from Rome but sources...

-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...