-PTI   Amid an ongoing debate on freedom of media, the Law Commission has floated a consultation paper to help it recommend an approach to be adopted in tackling issues like opinion polls, paid news, media regulation and use of social media. The law panel said though the country has every reason to celebrate its news media, as society evolves, new challenges are constantly thrown up that require consideration. "Technology has expanded our horizons,...

-PTI LUCKNOW: Police on Saturday lodged an FIR against some IT companies on a complaint based on the sting operation by news portal "Cobrapost", which claimed misuse of social media platforms in online campaigning for elections. The FIR was lodged by IPS officer Amitabh Thakur, who alleged that many IT companies were making "criminal" and "improper" use of social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc to sway the minds of common people...

-The Hoot Survey methodology is good at explaining correlations between past and existing attitudes, but is poor at predicting future behaviour. And surveys can end up making the elections sound like a horse race, says ANUP KUMAR A controversy has been brewing over banning pre-poll surveys in India. The issue is worthy of a serious discussion - especially when it comes to transparency in methodology and the relevance of pre-poll surveys...

-Live Mint In the past year, ration cards are being replaced with smartcards that can track food doled out through the PDS system New Delhi: Mohanlal Kapoor, a street vendor in north India, holds a card entitling him to subsidized food for his wife and four children. To get supplies, the Kapoors must battle an estimated 15 million families in their state toting similar pieces of paper that they're not entitled...

-Kafila.org This fact-finding exercise was coordinated by the CENTRE FOR POLICY ANALYSIS. Team members were the human rights activist and former civil servant Harsh Mander; former Director-General of the Border Security Force, E N Rammohan; Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University; National Integration Council member John Dayal; senior journalist Sukumar Muralidharan and CPA Director and senior editor Seema Mustafa. Introduction and Overview The first impression of the Muzaffarnagar countryside, now green...