-The Indian Express Ranchi: The police are yet to file an FIR in the Saturday incident, in which Jagarnath Mahato, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA of Dumri, held a kangaroo court and “punished” a man, Jitendra Choudhary, by tying him to a tree for an hour. The incident took place at Bhandaridah, 40 km from the Bokaro district headquarters. Mahato, 45, apparently acted after Choudhary’s wife, Sunita Devi, sought action against...

-First Post With 10 state Assembly Elections this year and the general election in the next, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) faces possibly its sternest challenge since it returned to power in 2009. It goes without saying that the forthcoming electoral tests have been compounded by the perceptibly declining political standing of the ruling alliance caused by multiple scams and economic stagnation. In addition, defeats in a series of elections ranging...

-The Guardian The government's decision to allow major infrastructure projects to go ahead without obtaining consent for forest clearance paves the way for the violation of village land rights, say rights groups Land and tribal rights in India have been dealt a new blow after the government announced last week that major infrastructure projects will be exempt from obtaining consent for forest clearance from tribal communities living in the forest, a decision...

-PTI In a bid to ensure free and fair elections and curb the use of money power, the Election Commission has disqualified as many as 2,171 candidates for failing to furnish details of expenditure incurred while contesting Parliamentary and Assembly polls. These candidates will face the bar for three years from the date of disqualification by the Commission, with the maximum being up to January 2016. The move is part of the poll...

-The Telegraph It is the time for West Bengal to create landmarks. First, the denial of a rape; second, the arrest of an academic for circulating a cartoon; third, a public circus with the winners of the Indian Premier League; fourth, the mimicry of the prime minister on television; fifth, the announcement of sop after sop even though the state is bankrupt; sixth, the announcement in the hills of being “rough...