-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With the Congress and the BJP hammering away at each other in the ongoing assembly contests that will set the stage for national polls next year, the Election Commission of India wants to make sure that social media and online platforms run by Google, Facebook and Twitter won't be used to breach the code of conduct that governs candidates and political parties. The commission's key...

-The Times of India HYDERABAD: In a novel initiative, India Post will use short message service (SMSs) alert system to deliver dak to citizens. In the new system, people expecting mail, including Speed Post and parcels, will now get an SMS alert before the local postman delivers them at the designated address. India Post ( Department of Posts) is making all efforts to launch the system from December second week in...

-The Hindu Hyderabad: Severe tropical cyclone Helen tapered off into a low pressure area on Saturday causing extensive damage to standing paddy crop and leaving six dead in the four districts of coastal Andhra region. According to official reports, six persons - two each in Krishna and East Godavari and one each in Srikakulam and West Godavari - were dead while paddy crop spread over 3.5 lakh hectares suffered extensive damage. In...

-The Hindu The Gujarat snooping incident should be used as an opportunity to ask how the government has assumed the power to order such invasive, unchecked surveillance. On November 15, a pair of investigative portals released a set of audio transcripts depicting an extraordinarily invasive and scrupulous surveillance of a young woman by the Gujarat Police. Its implications, limited as they may appear to those who consider privacy a besmirched value, in...

-The Hindustan Times Patna: Arjun Singh, 48, lost his father and wife in quick succession, in 2004 and 2005. Then followed a long spell of depression and "utter loneliness", until in 2007 a sparrow chick that had fallen from a tree in the courtyard of his house transformed his life for good. He tended to the bird for a few days. It recovered and flew off, kicking off a passionate association...