-The Hindu GADCHIROLI: A week ago, six militants of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) were shot dead by commandos of Maharashtra’s anti-Naxal C-60 force at Govindgaon, a village in Gadchiroli district. Shankar Anna alias Munneshwar Jagatu Lakada, 43, was leading the Maoist squad that organised a meeting on the night of January 19 at Govindgaon, villagers say. Gadchiroli police say Shankar Anna was secretary of the CPI (Maoist) Aheri area committee and...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today ticked off police in three northern states for claiming no khap (caste) panchayats existed, observing that restricting girls from carrying mobile phones or wearing clothes of their choice violated the law. The apex court directed the khap panchayats of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to file their response on the legal validity of their functioning as “parallel courts”. “If a woman can’t wear proper dress, if girls...

-The Hindu Separate buses for schoolboys and schoolgirls, overcoats for girls, ban on mobile phones on campuses and restricted interaction of girls and boys — these are the steps the Puducherry government has decided on to enforce to prevent harassment of girl students. The measures came after a meeting between Education Minister T. Thiagarajan and principals in the wake of the rape of a 17-year-old student by two men on Tuesday. By reducing...

-Huffington Post As we start 2013, many people will be thinking about plans and promises to improve their diets and health. We think a broader collection of farmers, policy-makers, and eaters need new, bigger resolutions for fixing the food system -- real changes with long-term impacts in fields, boardrooms, and on plates all over the world. These are resolutions that the world can't afford to break with nearly one billion still...

-The Economic Times Something interesting happened in Mumbai last month. For the first time ever, Harvard Business School stepped out of its Boston campus to bring its leadership and corporate accountability programme for senior corporate executives to India. The programme focuses on promoting socially and financially responsible corporate conduct. In an environment where scams and business scandals are making headlines every day, the turnout for the four-day programme was expectedly impressive. "Corruption...