-Outlook Madhepura (Bihar): Days after banning consumption of liquor, gambling and playing of obscene songs, a panchayat in Bihar's Madhepura district has again cracked the whip -- this time against those branding any woman a witch. The Mithai panchayat has decided to impose a penalty of Rs 2,100 on anyone calling a woman a witch, panchayat chief (mukhiya) Madhumala said. "We have taken a unanimous decision to protect dignity of our women in...

-The Times of India PUNE: The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) continued its agitation for a higher price for sugarcane crop for the second consecutive day in western Maharashtra. The protesters resorted to stone pelting and roadblocks and brought state transport to a halt in he region. While chief minister Prithviraj Chavan held inconclusive discussions with Raghunath Patil, the leader of Shetkari Sanghatana, another farmers' organisation, SSS president and Hatkanangle MP Raju Shetty...

-The Economic Times Along with your tablet, smartphone and car keys, get ready to pack a gas mask. And if you thought the recent smog in Delhi and the more-than-usual pollution levels (20% higher) in the last fortnight were due to the burning of residual crop in Punjab and Haryana, you are wrong. After a steady improvement since the late-1990 s, the air in Delhi — and all other Indian cities —...

-The Indian Express The number of polio cases worldwide reached a record low in 2012, giving experts confidence that the disease can finally be eradicated, according to presentations made at a major US conference. Just 177 cases were recorded globally through October 2012, down from 502 during the same period last year, said virologists attending the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Atlanta. But the experts said...

-Business World Wind, water and the sun can help India cut dependence on coal and gas For India, energy security has never seemed more real, more urgent than now. Forty per cent of the country’s 1.2-billion populace is yet to have access to electricity. Even those getting grid supply suffer poor quality of power. Towns see power cuts more than half the day. The country’s energy deficit, according to the Central Electricity...