-The Business Standard IT laws have clauses that can be too easily misused The arrest of two women in Palghar (near Mumbai) for an innocuous Facebook status update is the latest indicator of an increasing intolerance of free speech, especially online. The state has also increased its surveillance. The focus on surveillance and censorship is evident not only in specific instances but also in the statistics. In February, the government said...

-Outlook Terming the arrest of two girls in Mumbai for their Facebook posts on the shutdown during Bal Thackeray's funeral as an "assualt" on freedom of speech, CPI today accused Maharashtra government of being "scared" of Shiv Sena and asked it to own up responsibility for the incident. Patry National Secretary D Raja decried the action as "draconian" and wondered whether people have even lost their right to express their opinion freely. "It...

-Outlook Malkangiri (Odisha): A tribal farmer was shot dead by the Maoists who suspected him to be a police informer in Odisha's Malkangiri district, police said. About 15 Maoists reached the house of farmer and small time contractor Bhima Sisha (35) of Sishaput under Mudulipada police station in the Maoists-prone district last night. The ultras told Sisha that he had been summoned to attend a meeting. As Sisha refused to accompany them, he was...

-Outlook The Delhi police was asked today by a court here to file a status report on its probe into the case lodged against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly dubbing Bihar natives as infiltrators in Mumbai and threatening them to throw out of the state. "Notice to concerned investigating officer be issued with direction to file status of investigation," said Metropolitan Magistrate Neeraj Gaur. The court order came after the...

-NDTV Patna: Fifteen people, including nine children, were killed and many others injured in a stampede in Patna on Monday. The incident took place during the Chhath puja at Adalatghat Ghat on the bank of river Ganga. Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar said, "There are total 15 dead bodies and their post-mortem was done last night. Out of these, nine are children." He also said that two of the injured are undergoing...