-The Times of India MUMBAI: Is India witnessing a spurt in unnecessary hysterectomies? Data released by international charity organization Oxfam on February 6 says as much. The agency said that unnecessary hysterectomies were being performed in Indian private hospitals to economically exploit poor women as well as government-run insurance schemes. A right to information (RTI) request filed by one of Oxfam's local NGOs in the Dausa district of Rajasthan showed that 258...

-The Times of India For attempting to influence prosecution witness during trial in the BMW hit and run case, the Supreme Court ordered ex-senior advocate R K Anand to pay Rs 21 lakh for setting up a library in a law college meant for the underprivileged and also render free professional service to poor litigants for a year. A bench of Justices G S Singhvi, Aftab Alam and C K Prasad said...

-Outlook Out in our streets, disabled people feel the pain everyday The Gaping Holes     India yet to get a cohesive, standardised sign language     Barrier-free infrastructure yet to be implemented in public areas like bus stations, railway stations, schools, cinema halls     Lack of basic, inclusive civic facilities: no audio-enabled traffic signals, pavements with ramps, few disability-friendly toilets, negligible penalties     Poor functional entertainment accessibility, like no subtitling on local language TV channels     Reservation...

-Outlook Hyderabad: India could win 105 claims on international patents due to its Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here today, opening the high-level segment meeting at the Conference of Parties to Convention on Biological Diversity. "We decided to build this knowledge database because of the patent on the use of neem extract in Europe and another patent on the use of turmeric as a healing agent. Since...

-PTI The UPA-II government is all set to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats with broadband within 16 months with a view to improving public delivery mechanism. "In a review meeting of the project, the Planning Commission was assured by the Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda that country's all 250,000 panchayats will have broadband connectivity in next 16 month", a source privy to the development said. This is also part of an attempt to...