-PTI Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said nuclear power was an essential component of India's energy mix and he will ensure that the safety and livelihoods of people are not jeopardised in its pursuit. "We will ensure that the safety and livelihoods of people are not jeopardised in our pursuit of nuclear power," Singh said at a function to confer lifetime achievement awards on four nuclear scientists. Noting that the 2011 Fukushima incident...

-The Times of India JALANDHAR: Muslim community in Punjab will soon have its own Shariat panchayats. The first such panchayt would be inaugurated on March 3 in Malerkotla, a Muslim town in Sangrur district. It would settle three types of disputes - marriage, divorce and inheritance. "These panchayats would provide a forum for ensuring fast and inexpensive settlements of the disputes in Muslim community," Punjab Wakf Board chairman Mohd. Izhar Alam said...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today ticked off police in three northern states for claiming no khap (caste) panchayats existed, observing that restricting girls from carrying mobile phones or wearing clothes of their choice violated the law. The apex court directed the khap panchayats of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to file their response on the legal validity of their functioning as “parallel courts”. “If a woman can’t wear proper dress, if girls...

-The Hindustan Times An anonymous letter — written on behalf of Delhi Police personnel over the ‘unfairness’ of forgoing a day’s salary for their recently slain colleague, constable Subhash Chand Tomar — warned senior officers of a potential rebellion within its ranks on Monday afternoon, sources claimed. A statement released by Delhi Police on December 25 stated that one day’s salary of all police personnel would be donated to the family...

-The Indian Express The audacity of the Latehar ambush, which ended with Maoists implanting explosive devices inside the corpses of CRPF men, comes amid security forces’ claims that the rebels are a declining force. What was probably the cruellest ever assault on security forces came at a time police in several states were praising themselves for having contained Maoists. Over the last 14 months, Maoist violence had declined partly because they had...