-The Hindustan Times As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his team pull out all stops to  shake off criticism of policy paralysis with a string of reform measures, rising prices and sliding growth continue to remain key worries. A Hindustan Times survey, one of the largest of its kind covering 28,395 respondents across 13 cities, shows nearly two in three (62.7%) of the people surveyed said that high food prices were hurting...

-The Economist MID-AFTERNOON in Delhi, and a red blob looms in the haze. The sun barely illuminates the city. A yellow-green smog hangs low. Even indoors, fuzzy halos of dust and smoke surround lamps. Those foolish enough to be out jogging, or compelled to stand at junctions directing traffic, complain of shortness of breath, migraines, clogged lungs. Newspapers are crammed with articles about asthma, wheezing children at clinics, an epidemic of...

-The Hindustan Times A 26-year-old blogger’s seemingly novel approach to understanding the hardships of an average rickshaw-puller’s life brought him in direct, and apparently unsolicited, confrontation with the law at Delhi University’s North Campus on Friday. It was just another afternoon for Gaurav Jain, a Dwarka resident who works as a contractual rickshaw-puller as part of his research on their lives thrice a week, till he was intercepted and severely assaulted...

-The Hindu After facing harassment and extortion at the hands of corrupt police and civic body officers over the years, the Capital’s rickshaw pullers can finally heave a sigh of relief. A far-reaching Supreme Court order in a case filed by an NGO has come to their rescue. It has put an end toimpounding and scrapping of their vehicles. However, the battle against officialdom which sees them as "vermin" continues.... rickshaw-puller Shiv...

-Frontline There is growing violence against women and children in Haryana, aided by the apparent collusion between the State government and the upper-caste-dominated khap panchayats. THE road leading to Dabra village in Haryana’s Hisar district is not very difficult to locate. It was at Dabra, a mere 15 kilometres from the district headquarters, that a heinous crime was committed on September 9. It would have gone unnoticed had it not been accompanied...