-Frontline There is growing violence against women and children in Haryana, aided by the apparent collusion between the State government and the upper-caste-dominated khap panchayats. THE road leading to Dabra village in Haryana’s Hisar district is not very difficult to locate. It was at Dabra, a mere 15 kilometres from the district headquarters, that a heinous crime was committed on September 9. It would have gone unnoticed had it not been accompanied...

-DNA No one believes the news anymore. Who can blame them? The newspapers are so noisy, filled with scams and slanging matches, that even a top newspaper-bureaucrat like your columnist cringes while scanning the morning’s front pages. I too don’t want to read the papers. Then there’s the matter of credibility: the media is barely clinging to the last vestige of public trust, and that’s only because the institution of the...

-The Economic Times The fear of drought in India has abated with late precipitation of the monsoon in September this year. However, the country continues to suffer from a drought of formalised tabulated data of agro items on a real-time or monthly basis, though many estimates continue to fatigue the print and electronic media.  Red or green prices flashing on computer screens are taken for 'granted', but the discovery of future or...

-Outlook Allegations of extortion attempt made against a television channel by a private firm took a new turn today with the Press Council of India (PCI) taking up the issue and a broadcasting body removing an office bearer associated with the channel. PCI chairperson Justice Markandey Katju today wrote to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) to probe an alleged extortion attempt by certain people belonging to Zee news from Jindal Steel...

-The Hindu Second offence may attract imprisonment up to seven years The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared a proposal to broaden the scope of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, and make the punishment harsher. The penalty may be enhanced to a maximum of three years of imprisonment and a fine between Rs. 50, 000 and Rs. 1 lakh for the first conviction. An offender convicted for the second time can be...