-Live Mint Preventing entry of Dalits, tribespeople to places of worship should be made a punishable offence, says NAC Preventing Dalits and tribespeople from entering places of worship will be made a punishable offence under legal changes proposed by the National Advisory Council (NAC), which sets the social policy for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Obstructing members of such groups from using community resources will also be made an offence under...

-The Times of India Three Rajiv Gandhi assassinshave opposed the execution of the death sentence awarded to them by pointing to the 12 year-lag between the Supreme Court's confirmation of the high court's order to send them to the gallows and the rejection of the mercy petition by President. Behind this argument, it turns out, is a well-organized campaign by LTTE cadres, sympathizers and human rights groups opposed to death penalty...

-Economic and Political Weekly The proposed legislation on the National Food Security Act has been steadily watered down since it was fi rst mooted in 2009. The Parliamentary Standing Committee that examined the 2011 Bill has disappointingly continued with "targeting". If the government passes the bill incorporating the committee's suggestions, a historic opportunity to combat hunger and malnutrition would be lost. Ankita Aggarwal (aggarwal.ankita87@gmail.com) is a Research Scholar at the Centre for...

-Medianama.com Note: Following this report, other publications and civil society organizations are providing more context on this development. We’ve curating read-worthy updates here as a followup to this post. Important: CERT-IN’s Gulshan Rai has said that blocks have been implemented on the basis of an order issued by a Court in Gwalior, according to a report from Livemint. Hence, DoT is only implementing the Court’s instructions. Earlier today: India’s Department of Telecommunications yesterday...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Are people in Tamil Nadu more likely to protest in public against a perceived injustice? Data from the Union home ministry appears to suggest so. The state recorded 15,746 demonstrations in 2011, an average of 44 a day, more than any other state in the country. Uttarakhand was a distant second, with 8,610 protests, according to figures from the home ministry's Bureau of Police Research and Development. Maharashtra...