-The Hindu     Lawmakers are eager to appear resolute in the fight against crime, but seem to forget that certainty of punishment, not severity, is the real deterrent "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," said Mahatma Gandhi. The death penalty is unjust and inhuman. Its continued use is a stain on a society built on humanitarian values, and it should be abolished immediately. Many think that there could be nothing wrong...

-The Hindu     Angry residents had initially refused to perform the last rites of the Mumbai acid attack victim Angry and distraught residents of Narela spilled onto the streets and refused to perform the last rites of local girl Preeti Rathi, whose body was flown back to the Capital early on Monday morning from Mumbai. Preeti had succumbed to acid attack injuries this past Sunday. However, following a day-long outrage over the incident, the...

-Outlook The Maoists want a military conflict as it brings more adivasis into their fold. The Indian state's best bet is in ensuring that it wins over the aam adivasis to its side.   May 25th's condemnable attack by the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, which ended up killing and injuring over 50 people from Congress politicians to migrant adivasi labourers, cannot be understood without recognising the Maoist party's explicit political aims. These...

-The Telegraph Imphal: A Manipuri widow's cry for justice rang out during the 23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council this morning, as she questioned gaps in UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns's report on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Neena Ningobam, who represented the Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families' Association, Manipur, of which she is the secretary, and the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) at...

-The Business Standard Angelina Jolie has inadvertently highlighted a key question about patenting Angelina Jolies recent double mastectomy was obviously a very radical decision. It is unusual for a healthy person to opt for pre-emptive surgery to avert the probability, however high it may be, of getting cancer. The tests Jolie relied on are also at the heart of a legal battle, which could affect US biotech patenting norms. Since the US...