-The Times of India Diabetes and hypertension, traditionally seen as a rich man's disease, has made its way to the slums. Health ministry's fresh data shows one out of every four persons living in the urban slums of Chennai suffer from diabetes — which is three times higher than the national average of about 7%. In the slums of Bangalore the prevalence rate of diabetes was reported to be 14.77%, followed by...

-The Hindu “Personnel guilty of sexual offences in conflict areas should be tried under ordinary criminal law” The Justice J.S. Verma Committee, set up to suggest amendments to laws relating to crimes against women, has recommended review of the continuance of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the context of extending legal protection to women in conflict areas. “There is an imminent need to review the continuance of the AFSPA and...

-The Times of India Taking strong cognizance of sexual offences committed by armed forces personnel in conflict zones, Justice J S Verma committee report has not only recommended amendments to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) but even questioned its continuance in such areas. The report has recommended that the Act's provision of seeking sanction from the central government before initiating any legal action against an armed forces personnel should be...

-The Times of India Every few days, Rajkumar Sharma, manager of a group housing society in Noida, makes the mandatory trip to the nearby petrol pump to pick up his quota of diesel. A few days back, even as he was on his 'diesel duty' as he calls it, he was making some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations. "Our average monthly consumption is around 400 litres which means a monthly expenditure of around...

-The Hindu In the television newsroom, the promoter’s fancies and political preferences have taken precedence over editorial judgement The Zee “extortion” case in which the news network is alleged to have demanded Rs.100 crore in return for rolling back its campaign against steel tycoon Navin Jindal’s “misdemeanours” in coal block allocations (for the family owned Jindal Steel & Power Limited or JSPL), is a deeply layered story that deserves a closer look...