About conviction, the less said the better New figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau show India's two largest cities accounted for one-third of the rape cases registered in 2010, and underline depressing infirmities in the prosecution of perpetrators — just over a quarter of them were convicted. Last year, the national capital recorded 414 rape cases, the biggest number among 35 major cities monitored by the Bureau, followed by 194...

-EPW   The Anna Hazare group’s foray into electoral politics exposes its shaky foundations. The script of this drama was already written. A single issue campaign, focused narrowly on corruption in public life without a wider world view on the root causes of corruption or on the myriad other problems afflicting Indian society, had to come apart at the seams at some point. That moment arrived when “Team Anna”, as the people behind...

-BBC   Some of the parents of 12 children who died over the last two days in a hospital in the Indian city of Calcutta have accused it of negligence. The deaths of the children follows 25 similar "crib deaths" in June. Staff at the BC Roy hospital have strongly denied the negligence allegations. They say that the infants were admitted in a critical condition. But correspondents say that the hospital is overcrowded, with many...

From all accounts, Team Anna is going through a bad time. Kiran Bedi is struggling to explain her allegedly less-than-honest actions in presenting inflated travel bills, Arvind Kejriwal has been accused of financial impropriety and high-handedness by erstwhile members of the team, Prashant Bhushan is under fire for his comments on Kashmir and Santosh Hegde seems to perpetually have half a foot outside the team door. The decision to campaign...

-The Economic Times   The increase in India's food subsidy bill after the introduction of the Food Security Act, which will guarantee subsidised grains to a large section of population, could damage the country's financial health, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said here on Wednesday.  The situation is worrying even now, the minister said at the Economic Editors Conference here. "The issue price of grains for ration shops has not been changed for last...