-PTI President Pratibha Patil , seems to be the most merciful of all presidents during the last three decades. She has commuted death sentences of 23 petitioners to life imprisonment, which is over 90% of the total pardons granted since 1981. On February 9, she accepted the clemency petition of Sushil Murmu, pending since 2004, who was convicted for giving 'bali' (sacrifice) of a nineyear-old-boy in Jharkhand for his own prosperity,...

-IANS Over 100 NGOs from across India will come together on one platform with government and industry representatives this week to discuss the issue of large number of environment and forest clearances issued in the last few years. Organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the two-day event Feb 24-25 will see discussion on clearance processes, whether these processes are working, and what they aim to achieve. According to the CSE,...

Students of the Women's College in Aligarh Muslim University are waging a bitter struggle for a facility their counterparts in other institutions would take for granted-access to the university's central library. Now, in a concession to these undergraduate women students, AMU has decided provided them online access to the catalogue of books. The varsity says the girls can choose the books which would then be issued and delivered to them. The 100-year-old...

-PTI The government may grant the Income Tax department powers to re-open tax returns of beyond six years in specific cases of black money where "foreign assets" are involved. The I-T department needs these powers to pursue the ongoing cases where funds were found to be stashed abroad and these came to light after India received a classified list of bank account holders which include those in HSBC bank Geneva and LGT...

-The Hindustan Times   Press Council of Indian chairperson Markandey Katju has warned the Uttar Pradesh government for violating press freedom in various ways and acting "arbitrarily and in a vindictive manner". Taking serious note of complaints from journalists in the state, Katju has written in a letter to chief secretary, UP: “Many complaints have been coming from the state of Uttar Pradesh that press freedom is being violated in various ways e.g....