-The Times of India DHARMAPURI: Outraged by the suicide of a man who felt humiliated after his daughter married a dalit boy in secret, a mob of non-dalits went on the rampage in three villages of Dharmapuri district, looting and burning houses of dalits late on Wednesday, police said. The 2,500-strong mob set ablaze 148 houses in Natham, Anna Nagar and Kondampatti villages. They claimed that the "humiliation" caused by the marriage...

-The Hindustan Times In an attempt that could help UPA 2 tide over the anti-incumbency factor and yield political dividends in 2014, the rural development ministry is proposing to cover 60 lakh additional below-poverty-line (BPL) people under its pension schemes. The proposals, including enhanced pension payouts, would cost the central exchequer an additional Rs. 9,500 crore. The recommendations of a committee under the ministry, if accepted, would add to the 260 lakh beneficiaries...

-The Hindu Certain genetic variations among primitive Indian tribal populations were found to be shielding them against malaria, a new study has found. Malaria claims thousands of lives across the globe annually and is caused by parasite Plasmodium through the bite of an infected mosquito. While it is known that mutations in genes could lead to genetic diseases, scientists have studied whether genetic variations would lead to either susceptibility to malaria or resistance...

-The Hindustan Times The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) should be given constitutional status empowering them with appropriate autonomy and independence to make them effective instruments for fighting corruption, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai said on Wednesday. “If you really want some of these institutions to deliver, you must take a risk and ... take courage to make them constitutional,” he said, while speaking...

-The Economist MID-AFTERNOON in Delhi, and a red blob looms in the haze. The sun barely illuminates the city. A yellow-green smog hangs low. Even indoors, fuzzy halos of dust and smoke surround lamps. Those foolish enough to be out jogging, or compelled to stand at junctions directing traffic, complain of shortness of breath, migraines, clogged lungs. Newspapers are crammed with articles about asthma, wheezing children at clinics, an epidemic of...