-The Times of India The clamour over Pakistan fanning communal passions in India through social networking sites has missed a crucial detail. Around 20% of the web pages — blocked by government agencies — were uploaded by right-wing Hindu fundamentalists seeking to polarize the country on communal lines.  In these posts doctored images or videos showing alleged atrocities against tribal Bodos by Muslims have been tagged with provocative captions and point to...

-The Hindu Communist Party of India MP D. Raja has expressed concern at the State governments notifying buffer zones in tiger reserves. He argued that the move would violate the livelihood rights of lakhs of people. In a letter, he asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to halt the exercise and ensure that the Supreme Court is informed of the actual legal and ground positions. Failure to do so will amount to violation...

-The Hindu There is at last some clarity on the politics of the anti-corruption movements. Baba Ramdev’s dramatic call for Congress- hatao and the ‘political turn’ of the Anna movement have confirmed that a movement aimed at rooting out corruption cannot defer a direct encounter with party politics for very long. The manner in which both decisions were announced left something to be desired. The announcement by ‘Team Anna’ invited serious...

-IANS The service records of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai "are not traceable", the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has revealed in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application. Lucknow Activist Arvind Shukla had filed the RTI application last month, seeking details about the most powerful accountant of the country, who has gained renown as a vigilant anti-corruption watchdog and who is once again in the spotlight after...

-The Hindu Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of deaths due to serious adverse events (SAEs) during drug trials, while Madhya Pradesh saw the least number of such deaths. According to data disclosed by the Drug Controller-General of India, during the 49-month period (January 2008-January 2012), the country recorded 2,061 drug trial-related deaths. But data has been given only for 1,603 of the 2,061 deaths. Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 268 deaths to...