-The Hindu Although it has left some crucial questions unanswered, the Verma Committee report is a big step forward in the struggle for women’s rights The UPA government has perhaps got more than what it bargained for from the committee it set up, headed by the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice J.S. Verma, in the wake of the public outrage following the horrific Delhi gang rape. The government had...

-Economic and Political Weekly A cost-benefi t analysis by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy of the benefits from Aadhaar integration with seven schemes throws up huge benefi ts that are based almost entirely on unrealistic assumptions. Further, the report does not take into account alternative technologies that could achieve the same or similar savings, possibly at lower cost. Reetika Khera (reetika.khera@gmail.com) is at the Institute of Economic Growth on...

-The Times of India LONDON: The 2009 global H5N1 swine flu pandemic - the first in over 41 years that swept throughout the globe in record time -- infected at least one in five Indians with the highest rates of infection being among children. A joint Imperial College, London, and the World Health Organization global study released on Saturday found that 47% of those aged five to 19 showed signs of having...

-The Indian Express As the Delhi gangrape case came up before the special fast track court on Monday, a second accused claimed he was under the age of 18 and asked to be treated as juvenile, his lawyer said. Vinay Sharma, an assistant gym instructor, has moved an application seeking a bone ossification test, his lawyer A P Singh told reporters outside the fast track court of additional sessions judge Yogesh Khanna....

-Governance Now Villagers say they had to pay Rs 5,000-10,000 to get selected for the housing scheme Nalanda: Once again I paid a visit to Ravidas Tola neighbourhood in Maghra village of Biharsherif Block. Ravidas is a community that is classified as mahadalit, the most marginalized of the marginalized lot. It was early in the morning, and most people were in a rush as if in hurry to reach office. I stopped...