-The Deccan Herald   The Kerala High Court in Kochi on Friday observed that frequent hikes in the prices of petroleum implemented by oil companies in the country amount to slow poisoning of the public. The court expressed its sympathy for the plight of the common man. The common man is at the Mercy of oil companies, observed a division bench headed by acting chief justice of Kerala High Court C N Ramachandran...

Caught in the middle of a maelstrom of controversies, the Planning Commission has been accused of being disconnected from ground realities. Its 12th Plan hopes to fix that. A short while ago, the Congress general secretary and scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, Rahul Gandhi, remarked that members of the Planning Commission are not in touch with the ground realities in India. He could have been somewhat influenced by his father, forMer...

While gender equality ratios have improved in 85 percent of countries over the past six years, economic participation and political empowerment for women has failed to match the steady progress of health and education, says a new report by the World Economic Forum. The report, "Global Gender Gap", compiled by Ricardo Hausmann from Harvard University, Laura Tyson from University of California, Berkeley and Saadia Zahidi from the World Economic Forum, illustrates...

Team Anna on Thursday pressed for as many as 34 fresh additions to the proposed Lokpal bill that have already been incorporated in the Uttarakhand Lokayukata bill and renewed their demand that constitutional amendments bringing violation of citizens' charter and conduct of MPs in Parliament within the purview of the Lokpal also be introduced. The additions include widening the definition of corruption to include individuals who have given or taken benefit...

Some of the recent cases in the higher courts bring into sharp focus the dilemmas on the death penalty. ON October 10, the Supreme Court Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and C.K. Prasad stayed the execution of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving assailant in the November 2008 Mumbai terror attack, by admitting his appeal against the death sentence awarded to him by the Bombay High Court. The Bench wondered whether Kasab deserved...