-The Indian Express On the Delhi rape case, let’s keep the indignation, disturb legislative slumbers The Verma Committee Report (VCR) speaks against civil society and political rape cultures. The poignancy and urgency of the VCR owes much to the experience of conversing with rape survivors and traumatised children. A precious message of the VCR is this: one may not take law reform seriously without taking human and social suffering equally seriously. The committee...

-The Times of India A fragmented polity and a vitiated public sphere characterise today's India. The question that is making the rounds is whether we have become an intolerant nation. On all the networks, one strident anchor outdoes his or her shrill peer in raising it. Obviously, there can be no simple 'yes' or 'no' to such a question; it all depends on the context in which it is posed. Yes,...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Friday disapproved of social scientist Ashish Nandy's controversial remarks on corruption among backward sections at the Jaipur Literature Festival but gave him protection from arrest following a spate of FIRs in several states. Though the court entertained Nandy's petition and issued notices to the Union home ministry and states where police have registered FIRs — Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — it...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court on Friday protected sociologist Ashis Nandy from arrest over his allegedly casteist remark, but also censured him for irresponsibly expressing “ideas” that could hurt people. A bench led by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir stayed Nandy’s arrest in all criminal proceedings arising out of the statement he made at the Jaipur Literature Festival on January 26. The court, however, described the remarks as “unacceptable”, and told the...

-Outlook UPA’s populist trumpcard of 2008—the farm loan waiver—has fallen short of its intended target, as a CAG audit throws up The Scheme     2008 Union finance minister P. Chidambaram announces farmer debt waiver and relief scheme in budget; PM Manmohan Singh writes to beneficiaries “seeking their support”     Rs 52,275 cr Total money that was disbursed to eligible farmers across the nation as part of loan waiver scheme     Rs 50,000 The loan...