-Live Mint MoEF notification on 5 February says linear projects such as roads, canals wouldn't require gram sabha consent A move by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to exempt promoters of so-called linear projects such as roads, pipelines and canals from seeking the consent of village councils in forest areas will likely be a non-starter unless the government moves to amend the forest rights Act (FRA). MoEF issued a notification on...

-The Times of India HISAR: A 32-year-old woman was beaten up by four men for stopping them from molesting her niece in Hisar town. The victim, Rekha Rani, is admitted in the Hisar civil hospital with head injuries. The assault happened on Saturday night when Rani, a resident of Indra Nagar colony, was out with her two teenaged nieces to buy grocery. The victim in her complain said four men in two motorcycle...

-Reuters Global drugmakers, battered by recent intellectual property decisions in the country, are girding for a landmark court ruling on Monday with broad consequences for their ability to sell lucrative patented medicines in the country. Supreme Court is due to decide on April 1 whether or not Swiss giant Novartis AG's cancer treatment Glivec deserves a patent in the country. "Big Pharma is nervous because nothing has gone in their favour in the...

-Tehelka A public issue is not truly public unless Markandey Katju has passed judgement. Rahul Kotiyal and Ajachi Chakrabarti stand downwind "Journalists" writes Markandey Katju, with little sense of irony, "comment on everything under the sun." He goes on to say that when the shoe is on the other foot, when someone comments on journalism, it is misconstrued as an attack on press freedom. That when he announces he is appointing a...

-The Times of India BHOPAL: Flexing muscles for the first time, a group of dalits fired in air on Saturday to welcome the arrival of a statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkarthat will replace a bust installed at the busy traffic square in Damoh, a backward district in Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. The statue will be installed at the traffic square at a function on April 14, Ambedkar Jayanti, in the...