-BBC   Delhi: A record number of people have taken part in India's general election, now in its home stretch with just one round of voting left before results are announced on 16 May. Part of the reason for the increase in turnout in the five-week-long polls, which began on 7 April, can be attributed to the Election Commission for successfully encouraging more women and low-caste Indians to vote. But many remain excluded. Because Indians...

-Frontline   A Delhi High Court verdict says the State government is bound to ensure that poor and vulnerable sections of society have access to treatment for rare and chronic diseases. SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Mohammed Ahmed Khan looked on helplessly as his father, Sirajuddin, narrated the sordid tale of the loss of four of his children to Gaucher's disease, a rare genetic disease that requires lifelong, exorbitantly expensive enzyme replacement therapy. Sirajuddin, a rickshaw...

-The Times of India   JAIPUR: The National Green Tribunal's central zone bench in Bhopal has banned mining activities in 84 stone and marble quarries located inside and within 1 km radius of the Sariska tiger reserve and adjoining Jamuaramgarh sanctuary. While criticizing the Rajasthan government for unabated illegal mining in the Aravalli hills, including Sariska, the NGT also flayed Haryana for using illegally mined stones. Friday's order followed written submissions by the...

-The Indian Express   According to sources, DBT barely figured in the party's manifesto consultation process or during discussions After launching it with much fanfare and touting it as the next electoral game-changer, the Congress seems to have distanced itself from its ambitious Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme. There has also been a discernible dip in the UPA government's interest in the scheme, which has manifested itself in no review meetings having taken...

-The Times of India   MUMBAI: Obtaining information from Narendra Modi's Gujarat government is not just difficult but practically impossible as was found by RTI activist Anil Galgali. Galgali has been asked to travel to Gujarat and inspect the files personally for the information he had sought. Galgali in March this year had sought information under RTI on the expenses incurred for opposing the appointment of Justice R A Mehta as the...