-The Indian Express Learning from the success of Greyhounds, a special police unit in Andhra Pradesh, the Centre has approved funds to raise specialised forces in four Naxal-hit states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The special units will be trained in guerilla warfare and will be assisted by other Central forces during operations against the rebels. The four states will get funds to create and upgrade infrastructure, weaponry and equipment. The proposed...

-Outlook Railways is mulling linking of train tickets with Aadhar cards to tackle the menace of touts in bookings. "We are exploring the possibility of linking Aadhar system with issuing of train tickets and if this happens, the tout menace will be effectively curbed in ticketing system," Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said here today. Passengers often do not get tickets in advance as bulk tickets are being cornered by touts. "I have recently...

-The Hindu When a political party puts up candidates with criminal charges, it results in the alienation of large sections of people from the political class and politics itself When the Election Commission of India turned 60 on January 25, 2010, The Hindu opened its lead editorial of January 29 with the words, “After overseeing 15 General Elections to the Lok Sabha, the ECI, in its diamond jubilee year, can with justifiable...

-The Indian Express A free press that is able to operate without fear or favour remains an essential cornerstone of a modern democratic society. It plays a fundamental role as the guardian of public interest. By the same token, when certain deficiencies in its role become apparent, public and political furore is inevitable. So it came to pass in Britain, where public anger emanating from a single action — the hacking...

-Outlook Burakha (Tripura): Rampati Debbarma, a 71–year-old tribal woman of Burakha village in West Tripura district today pressed her finger on a Aadhar-enabled micro-ATM to get her old-age pension in cash. Rampati is not alone, but hundreds of old-age pensioners of this village today collected their pensions in the same way with the help of Aadhar-enabled payment system introduced here today. "Earlier I used to walk about 10 km from my village to...