-The Hindustan Times No one is above the law — this was chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s firm response to the Ficci (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) request to release the seven directors of Kolkata’s Advanced Medicare Research Institute (AMRI). The Delhi-based chamber of commerce had taken the plea that the directors had not been involved in the hospital operations. So their arrest following the December 9 fire, that killed...

-The Hindustan Times   Different Central government departments have different interpretations of the transparency law, Right To Information, when it came to disclosing information. While some government departments have proactively disclosed the information, others have denied similar information citing prohibitory clauses of the RTI law. This reporter had filed a RTI application with the Cabinet Secretariat seeking copies of the minutes of the Group of Ministers and Empowered Group of Ministers constituted since June...

-The Hindustan Times   Had the world's leaders decided to ensure that global warming would increase to 3 to 4 degrees Celsius, perhaps to 5 degrees Celsius, instead of the 1.5-to-20 degrees Celsius threshold (over preindustrial temperatures) that scientists believe earth can tolerate, they couldn't have acted more purposively than they did at the Durban climate conference. If this sounds like a harsh judgement that radically differs from the official spin that...

-The Hindustan Times   Team Anna was left red-faced on Friday when the Bombay high court said what was “satyagraha” for it could be a “nuisance” for others. Worse, in a face-saving move later, Anna Hazare publicly denounced his team's decision to move court — and get snubbed in the process — as “wrong”, calling his followers “overenthusiastic”. Team Anna had sought an exemption or discount on the rental for the Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds...

-The Hindustan Times   The horror of infant deaths returned to haunt the Malda Medical College and Hospital on Friday when six babies died within a span of 10 hours. The condition of several other babies is stated to be critical. The Malda hospital made headlines at least twice this year —first, when nine babies died within 36 hours in November and the second time when 15 babies died within 72 hours...