-The Telegraph   The Left parties have refused to answer government questionnaires on the Lok Pal bill, a stance that arrays them alongside the BJP in trying to corner the Congress-led UPA over corruption. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has written to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee saying his party cannot give its views on the six questionnaires, to be answered in yes-or-no terms. The format even prompted CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan to...

-The Times of India   A Elayaraja (30), an RTI activist from Thirugnanasambanthan village, Sirkazhi in Nagapattinam district, has filed a complaint with the state director general of police and the chief minister's special cell, asking for police protection from S Ravi (40), president of Alalasundaram panchayat under which Elayaraja's village falls. In his complaint, Elayaraja has alleged that panchayat president S Ravi (40) is threatening him and his family members...

The Orissa government on Friday came down heavily on anti- Posco protesters by arresting 18 villagers, including a prominent anti-Posco leader, and carried on with its land acquisition drive for the South Korean steel major's 12 million tonnes steel plant near Paradip. The government officials also seized a betel vine belonging to Basudev Behera, one of the leaders of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS). The police detained Behera in...

Concerned over the high maternal and infant mortality rate in the country, the Centre on Wednesday launched an ambitious programme to provide free services to pregnant women for deliveries and neo-natal care, if needed, up to a month after birth. The facility will be available to all women in government health institutions in both rural and urban settings, and is expected to benefit over one crore women annually. Launching the Janani-Shishu Suraksha...

The farmers' agitation in Uttar Pradesh brings into focus the indiscriminate acquisition of land by the state for corporate-led development. ON May 19, three days before the formal observation of the second anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance government, Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi made a categorical announcement that in the monsoon session of Parliament scheduled to begin in July the ruling coalition would bring in legislation that...