-The Hindu   It will have welfare measures and institutional framework A new National Policy on Older Persons, incorporating a range of welfare measures and an institutional framework for effective implementation, is expected to be unveiled soon. The policy will be based mostly on the Draft National Policy on Senior Citizens, 2011 headed by V. Mohini Giri, Union Minister for Social Justice & Social Welfare Mukul Wasnik said on Wednesday. He was presiding over...

Why is it that the Anna Hazare-led movement against corruption does not seek to have the Lokpal cover NGOs, corporate houses and the corporate media? Gautam Navlakha (gnavlakha@gmail.com) is a member of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi.   It would be churlish to dismiss “Team Anna’s” mass mobilisation which is an assertion of our collective right to protest. This is especially so in view of the fact that after having waited...

Hope in sight finally with NHRC sending notice on the matter to SSP of Moradabad Nearly four months after they were detained by the police, three Muslim schoolchildren are still in the District Jail here, unable to get bail for an offence their distraught families claim they never committed. The children have been charged, among other things, with rioting and attempt to murder. But now, finally, hope seems in sight with the...

-The Telegraph   Four farmers were killed and 10 injured when security forces opened fire on agitating jute cultivators at Bechimari weekly market along National Highway 52 in Darrang this afternoon. Just 15km from where the skirmish broke out today, 15 people were gunned down during a historic clash between the British administration and villagers of Patharughat over a rise in land revenue in 1894. Almost 117 years later, the rulers' side has changed,...

AIDWA wants Planning Commission proposal immediately withdrawn The Planning Commission's proposal for relaxing the ban on sex determination tests has evoked sharp reactions, both for and against. The proposal envisages relaxing the rules for sex determination in foetus but giving incentives to stakeholders and mothers, if it is a girl child, to ensure safe delivery. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Shantha Sinha says the government should ensure the...