-The Telegraph The Planning Commission has proposed a separate quota for single women in central schemes instead of clubbing them under the larger “family” category as is done now. If the move is cleared, even women who have never married will be included under the head “single”, along with widows and divorcees. “Not much progress could be made in this direction (towards having a separate category). This can be attributed to two factors....

-The Hindu Icann, the global authority dealing with domain names, is hastening the threat of monopolisation on the internet through its new scheme to sell generic words L’Oréal has applied for the top level domain (TLD) .beauty to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), the global authority dealing with domain names on the Internet. TLDs are what we see on the right side of the dot in domain names...

-The Times of India Public sector insurers are on course to increase medical insurance premium with Oriental Insurance saying that it will end the six-year freeze and raise annual costs by around 15% in the wake of higher costs. Other state-run companies, which sell health insurance under the Mediclaim brand, too, are expected to follow suit, especially after the government prodded them to ensure that they run profitable businesses. The four companies...

-Economic and Political Weekly  The Government of India is considering a proposal to notify farming as an essential service. This is ostensibly to bring drought relief to farmers suffering from a weak monsoon - a laudable goal indeed. However, if farming is deemed an "essential service", farmers and farm workers could lose many of their political and civic rights because the government can then invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court order on the appointment of Information Commissioners has had an unsettling effect on the working of the Right to Information Act, an elegant seven-year old law that has immeasurably empowered the average citizen. What was designed as an easy-to-use legal tool for the poor and weak may now be at risk of getting tangled in a web of complexity. The Court has, inter alia, ruled that...