-The Hindu Delhi, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are taking steps to rewrite the unconstitutional law on beggary and decriminalise poverty According to the 1959 law on beggary, Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, anyone perceived as having “no visible means of subsistence” and “wandering about” can be branded a beggar and detained in certified institutions for a period of not less than one year and up to 10 years for second time offenders. For many...

-The Telegraph People who stop smoking before the age of 40 may on average gain an extra 10 years of life expectancy, according to a study that researchers say has relevance to India where people typically quit only after falling ill. A British study described as the world’s largest to assess the hazards of smoking and the benefits of quitting has shown that quitting before 40 can help avoid excess mortality observed...

-The Hindu Have Emami and Karuturi bitten off more than they can chew in their land quest? Indian companies which invested in controversial deals involving hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Ethiopia have found themselves out of their depth in a fast-growing African economy that is still in the process of building critical transport and irrigation networks. Documents related to one such transaction reveal how Emami Biotech, a subsidiary of the...

-The Indian Express Governments of three Congress-ruLED states — Maharashtra, Haryana and Uttarakhand — have written to Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan seeking a review of her tough orders that have LED to the stalling of key infrastructural projects and slowed down job creation. Earlier this year, the environment ministry had issued guidelines fixing the minimum width of roads between highrises 15-30 metres tall at 15 m, for 45-60 m...

-The Hindu In yet another strategy to counter Maoists, the Centre has asked all Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected States to offer reverse sterilisation procedure to surrendered Naxals so that they can return to normal family life. Forced sterilisation of lower cadres of Maoists has been in practice for years. This is done to keep the cadres battle-fit and also to keep them away from family life so that they can remain committed...