-The Telegraph Teachers have backed a proposal to make aspiring civil servants’ English marks relevant to final selection but opposed suggested curbs to their freedom to write the other papers in their regional languages. The proposed reforms, notified by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on March 5 for introduction this year, are being held in abeyance by the Centre following an uproar in Parliament. An expert panel had recommended the changes, one...

-The Hindu India, Islamic and Western nations came together at the U.N. on Friday to put in place a potentially far-reaching framework for combating violence against women, regardless of variations in religious, cultural or social norms across nations. Greeted by loud cheers and applause, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) announced the “historic” accord at the U.N. headquarters in New York, winning particular praise for getting the multilateral membership of...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Barely one out of 10 police personnel in the state is a woman against the mandated minimum of three. The appalling ratio appears grave at a time when crimes against women have seen a jump. State home department norms require that at least 30% posts in the police force be filled by women, barring the top positions peopled by the Indian Police Service cadre. But women make...

-The Times of India MANDLA/JABALPUR: Tribals in Kundam, a settlement 40 km off Jabalpur, call it a black demon, one who strikes select families and ensures an early and agonizing death by sucking its victims white. For once, medical experts couldn't agree more with this home spun wisdom that aptly describes sickle cell - an incurable genetic disorder which damages vital organs like liver, kidney, heart and spleen. The disease manifest at...

-The Hindu India Specific Safeguard Agreement being implemented very smoothly The Indian civil nuclear programme as well as the country’s tightening of laws to check nuclear proliferation came in for praise from Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano. Speaking to journalists here after touring Tarapur Atomic Power Station’s units 3 & 4, Dr. Amano lauded the “serious efforts, enthusiasm by the operators, engineers to further improve, further enhance the...