-The Times of India After spending 25 days behind bars on charges of raping her live-in girlfriend, athlete Pinki Pramanik was granted bail on Tuesday. The judge virtually exonerated the Asiad gold medallist by saying that preliminary medical reports make it clear Pinki is "not capable of committing rape".  There was much drama both inside the courtroom and outside. Athlete and former CPM MP Jyotirmoyee Sikdar led a huge crowd at the...

-The Indian Express In 2000, when Sutia village of West Bengal was virtually ruled by alleged rapists, a young schoolteacher stood up to them, starting a movement that helped villagers overcome their fear. Villagers say the gangsters, primarily extortionists, had punished a number of reluctant donors by gang-raping the women of their homes, often in front of the rest of the family. The fear this created had stamped out any hopes of...

-The Hindustan Times To maintain a fine balance between allies’ pressure and investors’ sentiments, the UPA government will let states decide their own limits on acquiring land for private projects. In its ambitious Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, the Centre has bypassed recommendations of a parliamentary panel and will give states the power to fix their own ceilings. The draft bill prepared by UPA-1 ran into a hurdle over the...

-IANS Many chief ministers, including non-Congress ones, support the proposal to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said Wednesday. "Now you have a fairly good number of chief ministers who have come out in support...We have continued a dialogue in a democratic spirit, a very open dialogue with the states," Sharma told reporters here after Coca-Cola Chairman Muhtar Kent met him. Sharma said he had...

-The Business Standard Days after the High Court here struck down the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today announced the state would double the monthly aid to Singur landlosers to Rs 2,000 a month. The announcement of an increase of Rs 1,000 in monthly allowances to Singur farmers was made by the All India Trinamool Congress on Twitter, quoting the chief minister. Earlier, the state government had announced...