-Frontline The Congress-led UPA seems to be betting heavily on the cash transfer scheme as a means to return to power in the next general elections. DECEMBER 2012 may go down in history as the month when the Congress party created its own “India Shining” moment: the moment when it started believing its own hype, and even deluded itself into thinking that its perception was so widely shared that it could provide...

-Outlook Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today emphasised on the need to shift large surplus farmers to non-agriculture sector, saying per capita income of farmers would rise only when fewer people engage in farming. He also said farmers' income and agri-land yields need to be enhanced to meet the growing foodgrains demand in the coming years, building on the success of the 11th Plan. Addressing the 57th meeting of the National Development Council (NDC),...

-The Hindu The view that it will deter rape is misplaced and based on a narrow, sexual intercourse-definition of the crime There is a fascinating urban legend that Apple’s logo is dedicated to Alan Turing, who committed suicide by biting into a cyanide injected apple. A few years after he was instrumental in breaking the German Enigma code in World War II, Alan Turing was convicted in 1952 for homosexual acts in...

-The Economic Times There is no need to get scared about losing internet freedom, at least till January 2015. That's the view of top telecom policy watchers, who closely monitored the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that ended in uncertainty earlier this month in Dubai. Policy experts say the changes affecting internet users in India, if any, would be slow and minor with little or...

-The Times of India From now, highway development agencies won't have to apply separately for mining of soil/ earth for such works. As per new norms devised by the environment and forests ministry (MoEF), the highways ministry or any other agency such as NHAI can apply for clearance for getting soil/earth in one go when they apply for environment clearance. The "workable" decision was taken after highways ministry received support from law...