Wary of a political backlash after its campaign against Congress in last year's Hisar Lok Sabha by-poll and the lukewarm response to Anna Hazare's Mumbai stir, Team Anna is divided on whether to extend the anti-Congress movement to poll-bound states. Team Anna's concerns increased after BJP was severely criticized for accepting former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha into its fold and Congress asked whether the activists will turn their guns towards...

Child welfare continues to be accorded the least priority in planning and implementation of public services or amenities. Other than those institutions, public and private, directly charged with the protection of children, almost all others exhibit a low level of sensitivity to children and low levels of preparedness for child protection, a new study has shown. Conducted by Childline 1098 — a helpline service for children in distress — the study...

-The Hindu   For no crime other than that he stood alongside a crowd demanding the restoration of electricity supply to his village, Altaf Ahmad Sood was shot dead on Monday. This appalling murder, at the hands of a Central Industrial Security Force picket guarding a power installation at Barnait, a village near Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, makes clear the casualness with which central forces reach for their guns against the...

-The Times of India   The states would milk the Centre by arbitrarily hiking their 'minimum wages' if workers in the job guarantee scheme were to be paid by the "minimum wages Act", the Centre cautioned while appealing against a court order quashing power to fix remuneration under MGNREGA. Union rural development ministry has sought revision of the Karnataka high court order giving in to the finance ministry's pressure despite the fear...

-BBC At least 17 people have died after drinking tainted home-made alcohol over the weekend in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, officials say. More than 20 people are also being treated in hospital in the state's Krishna district. Deaths from illicit alcohol are not uncommon in India, as licensed liquor is often too expensive for the poor. In December, at least 169 people died after drinking toxic alcohol in West Bengal state. Protests The...