-The Hindu The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics for 2011 said Bangalore ranks fourth among cities of the country in recorded rape cases. The city accounted for 3.8 per cent of the reported cases in the country. When all crimes against women were considered, Bangalore went up a couple of notches to occupy the second place. The latest reports of gang rape — on three women, which came within a week...

-SamayLive.com A group of farmers began protests outside the residence of Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh in Delhi on Friday against the final draft of the Land Acquisition Bill . Farmers  gathered outside the residence of Jairam Ramesh and  are protesting against the draft Land Acquisition Bill that was cleared for Parliament by the government last week. The final draft of the  bill will now be placed before the Union Cabinet and is...

-Outlook Hyderabad: In a unique initiative to recognise outstanding work in biodiversity conservation at the grass roots level, the Union Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have jointly presented awards to models of biodiversity governance from across the country. The awards were presented to the representatives of the winners at a ceremony held on the sidelines of the ongoing UN convention on biological diversity here last night. A press release from...

-The Hindu On Tuesday, Bhojan Yatra, a campaign demanding a comprehensive food security bill, reached here after travelling through Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. In a rally, organised from Bistupur to Ram Mandir maidan, Right to Food (RTF) activists demanded that the proposed National Food Security Bill (NFSB) give universal access to food instead of capping it at 67 per cent of the population. They demanded that 8.2 crore metric tonnes of food...

-The Hindustan Times The big difference within the Cabinet over the land acquisition bill revolves around the role of the state. Since land is to be acquired for infrastructure projects - India is relying on the private sector to come up with half the $1 trillion it will need to build ports, highways and power plants in the next five years - positions on either side of the debate are deeply...