-The Hindustan Times From a crackdown on dubious charity contributions to encouraging the use of credit and debit cards, from tracking realty deals to monitoring jewellery purchases, the government has proposed a wide range of measures to combat black money. The proposals are part of the white paper on black money tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. The white paper does not, however, disclose names...

The row over a cartoon featuring Dalit leader Ambedkar shows a lack of critical thinking in the Indian polity. The cartoon by Shankar Pillai that caused such pandemonium in the Indian Parliament on 11 May 2012 when various Dalit and non-Dalit members demanded its omission from a Class IX textbook was originally published in 1949. It depicts Dalit leader Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar with a whip riding a snail entitled ‘Constitution’...

CRPF top brass on Wednesday distanced itself from a senior officer's demand that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) cover be extended to the paramilitary force to tackle the Maoist scourge. D K Pandey, a CRPF inspector-general (IG) posted in Ranchi and in-charge of anti-Maoist operations for the central force in Jharkhand, had made the pitch, which is seen to be his personal view. Speaking to TOI, CRPF director-general K Vijay...

-The Business Standard Still waiting for a crackdown on antibiotic over-prescription According to a recent study in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the drug-resistant bacterial strain known as New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1, or NDM-1, has spread to 40 countries. This is quite remarkable, given that it was only discovered in 2008 in the UK, among patients who had recently been hospitalised in India. The “superbug”, as it is commonly known, is...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Army authorities to decide whether its personnel accused of fake encounter killings in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam should be tried by court-martial proceedings or by regular criminal courts. A Bench of Justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar said if Army authorities were not keen on court-martial proceedings, then the CBI could seek sanction from the Centre for prosecution of Army officers. Army...