-The Times of India   Last month's general election brought the role of media under the spotlight. Media faced severe criticism from political parties, intellectuals and industry insiders for allegedly being partisan during elections. A large section of mainstream media has been castigated as "paid media" by social media enthusiasts. In this context, however, a great deal of work already exists in the political economy literature analyzing the real effects of having a...

-The Hindu   Although meant to function as watchdogs, human rights institutions in India are treated as subordinate departments with scant regard for their autonomy or statutory character A change in the occupancy of 7, Race Course Road, is spelling change in the composition of statutory bodies in India. With the Governors of various States, the office-bearers of the National Disaster Management Authority and the Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of...

There has been a phenomenal rise in the percentage of elderly who are abused by their own family members, and although most of the victims are aware of police helplines, they seldom adopt such solutions. What can be the explanation behind such social behaviour? Based on a survey conducted in 12 cities across 8 states with a sample size of 1,200 elders covering both metro (Tier I) and non- metro (Tier...

-The Times of India     Attempt to muzzle newspapers by withdrawing advertising for critical news coverage A new report by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN) has strongly condemned "soft censorship" by governments and regulators as a "very serious threat to media independence and the very viability of media companies". WAN, which is the umbrella organization of newspapers representing more than 18,000 publications and 15,000 online sites in 120 countries...

-The Navhind Times   THAT climate will remain in a state of flux is a given. The fallout of global warming will be periodic extreme heat and drought, as was experienced by the United States and some other food-exporting countries in 2012, sending food prices close to record levels. At the same time, many countries, including China and India will experience heavy rains and floods from time to time, damaging food production. Even...