-The Times of India NEW DELHI: There was one aspect of the Lokpal bill Rahul Gandhi felt strongly about but finally decided to let go for now: Stronger accountability checks for members of the anti-corruption ombudsman. Having prodded his party to belatedly adopt the Lokpal bill, the Congress vice-president felt recent controversies involving the judiciary did raise questions about stricter standards that require closer attention. But tinkering with the Lokpal bill, already screened...

-The Indian Express By doing nothing, institutions foster hostile sexual environments. Once upon a time, facts amounting to sexual harassment did not socially "exist", let alone constitute a legal claim. Behaviour such as sexual innuendo, sexually offensive gestures, sexually explicit material, sexual expletives, hostile workplace environments, job-related decisions based on implied requests for sexual favours were, well, just the way things were - it was systemic in nature. These were common life...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: There is some hope for the LGBT community in the recent Supreme Court judgment despite it spreading gloom among them by upholding the validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. While it closed the small window opened by the Delhi High Court legalizing consensual gay sex between adults in private, it took a panoramic view of Indian case law on Section 377 and...

-The Telegraph Networks of private hospitals across India today said they would stop providing cashless services to beneficiaries of government-funded healthcare schemes from January 15 next year, citing delays in payments and "low" charges set by the government. Members of the Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI) said beneficiaries of the Central Government Health Scheme would need to pay for any treatment they seek from that date onwards and seek reimbursement...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: While the Central Vigilance Commission's (CVC) role as the prime anti-corruption and vigilance agency against Group A civil servants and equivalent will continue; its overall workload could go up in the lokpal era. There are several noticeable similarities in both the Lokpal Bill and the Central Vigilance Commission Act in their role as anti-corruption agencies, but there are also discernible differences between the two. A false complaint...