-The Economic Times   The single most significant achievement of the government's midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his fellow protesters at Delhi's Ramlila Grounds has been to dent its own credibility. Its critics are entirely right to ask why, if the fasting Baba is a charlatan as the government now claims he is, more ministers were sent to receive him at the Delhi airport than has been assigned to greet...

It was not that long back that Baba Ramdev, a Yadav from Haryana, was just a superior yoga instructor with a mass following, a people's Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, whose clientele was at the upper end of the social spectrum. Today, Baba Ramdev heads a yoga and health empire, worth hundreds of crores, with even an island off the coast of Scotland, gifted to him by grateful devotees, to run a...

-The United Nations   An independent United Nations expert on freedom of expression today warned that governments are increasingly restricting the flow of information on the Internet due to its potential to Mobilize people to challenge the status quo. Frank La Rue, a Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today: “Governments are using increasingly sophisticated technologies to block content, and to monitor and identify...

-The Hindu   Concerned at the skewed sex ratio as reflected in the latest Census report, the Centre has asked the Medical Council of India to take cognisance of the practice of illegal sex selection and sex selective abortion. The MCI has been told to ensure that guidelines for accreditation of training and experience for medical practitioners are put in place quickly. The process of regular reviews with 18 States that have...

-BBC   Police in the Indian capital Delhi have broken up an anti-corruption protest led by controversial yoga guru Baba Ramdev. Around 30 people were injured as police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of his supporters, reports said. He had been fasting to demand that the government takes action to recover billions of dollars of suspected bribe money held in foreign bank accounts. Baba Ramdev was detained by police but later released. The police...