-The Times of India   UP Lokayukta Justice N K Mehrotra has recommended registration of a case and a CBI and Enforcement Directorate probe against former state minister Babu Singh Kushwaha under the Prevention of Corruption and Money Laundering Act.  The Lokayukta has found him prima facie guilty of large-scale anomalies in allotment of mines and other financial irregularities and forwarded a report to chief minister Mayawati for necessary action.  "There were three specific...

-The Indian Express   As they were produced before the media following their surrender before the police at Kanker on Monday evening, top Naxals for the first time admitted publicly what has been an unconfirmed rumour in Bastar — the insurgents are forced to undergo vasectomy by their leaders, mostly based in Andhra Pradesh. All the four men who surrendered on Monday had undergone the operation. Three women Naxals also surrendered on Monday. “This...

Let down by governments that curb free speech, we have become our own hecklers In free speech jurisprudence, there is a concept called a “heckler’s veto”. It means the ability — but not the right — of a private actor, the heckler, to be loud and obnoxious enough to obscure the free speech of others. By pattern, a heckler is someone who is unable to defend his argument by legitimate use...

-The Times of India   West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s request for increased supply of urea as prices of nutrient based fertilizers are increasing has highlighted the challenges the Centre’s bid to reduce urea use and promote a more balanced product mix faces.  Arguing that farmers should not be asked to purchase costlier nutrient-based NPK (nitrogen, phosporus and potassium) fertilizer, Banerjee has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for more urea for the...

-Hardnews Bureau Delhi The announcement of the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry for Ankit Garg, the SP of Dantewada is a reflection of the sad state of the Indian Republic as it celebrates its 63rd Republic Day. It is indeed shocking to see that a police officer who was accused of brutalising and torturing the young Adivasi teacher, Soni Sori, is being lauded by the State even after reports of perversity...