The State finds a handy tool in a colonial law to quell dissent Wrong Arm Of The Law   Why ‘sedition’ rings hollow in India 2012 The law Section 124(A) of the Indian Penal Code, 1870; non-bailable offence The definition Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government...

Plans are afoot to cap the number of subsidised LPG cylinders at six to eight per annum to reduce the losses of state-run oil firms and bring down the burgeoning subsidy bill. Oil ministry officials said consumers might have to pay more for every additional cylinder, and the amount would be gradually linked to market rates. Sources said the finance ministry had asked the oil ministry to revisit its proposal made last...

-IANS Mathura's child welfare system is marred by poor sanitation and living standards, dilapidated buildings, ineffective staff and irregular adoptions, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) says. The situation came to light Friday when a five-member NCPCR team inspected a juvenile observation home, an orphanage and a beggar's home - all run by the Uttar Pradesh government - in the Hindu holy town. At the State Observation Home, which had...

-The United Nations Elephant poaching levels are the worst in a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest levels since 1989, according to a report published today by the United Nations-backed convention on endangered species. “We need to enhance our collective efforts across range, transit and consumer states to reverse the current disturbing trends in elephant poaching and ivory smuggling,” the Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered...

-The Times of India These are one set of statistics Kerala will not be proud to own up to: God's own country, and not the badlands of north India, is the most crime-prone state, ahead of Uttar Pradesh and even Delhi. The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures comparing incidents of crime with the population of a state, notes Kerala is most affected by crime and Kochi is the most dangerous...