-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Even as the Election Commission plans consultations with political parties in the first week of August on a recent Supreme Court order seeking framing of guidelines for parties' poll manifestoes, senior commission officials are in a dilemma on how to define a "freebie" in the first place. The poll watchdog plans to sound out all recognized national and state parties in the first week of August...

-The Telegraph Has rape become an inspiring act? Protest, debate, anger, mutual blame, marches, mob violence are spilling out of streets and screens, yet the rape count continues to rise relentlessly, almost as if the outrage over one incident is inciting the next one. Such a narrative is to an extent encouraged by the way incidents are reported in newspapers and television, but the facts are inescapable, and everybody, including the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court will dissect the concept of "mother tongue" - an issue that reflects the diversity of India and touches every child in the country. Besides deciding the very basic question of "what does ‘mother tongue' mean", the Constitution bench will look into whether it can be imposed by the State on all children as a compulsory medium of instruction at the primary...

-The Hindu Madurai: If the Right to Education Act is implemented properly in all schools, students from the marginalised sections will be greatly benefited. Another important fact is financial support for education. The student could achieve this feat only because of the scholarship scheme; "The Government should make sure that grants are disbursed on time and deserving students should not have to wait," said S. Balakrishnan, Director, Vergal Education Trust, Madurai. When asked...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: In a state infamous for malnutrition, one out of five teens going to private schools is either overweight or obese. This has been revealed in a study conducted by National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC). The study covered more than 49,000 school children in eight cities, including 23,006 children in Lucknow, Agra and Allahabad. The other cities were New Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Dehradun and Pantnagar. The...