-The Hindu Freedom of expression will continue to remain under siege unless all groups accept that people can have different opinions and beliefs in a free country “Our tradition teaches tolerance; our philosophy preaches tolerance; our Constitution practises tolerance; let us not dilute it.” These stirring sentiments were expressed by Justice Chinnappa Reddy in a Supreme Court judgment pronounced in August 1986 which invalidated expulsion from school of students belonging to Jehova’s...

-The Hindu The efforts to win the war against tuberculosis using an efficacious vaccine candidate (MVA85A) in infants aged 4-6 months have returned a disappointing verdict despite showing great promise in pre-clinical trials. Though it fulfilled the primary objective of safety and despite inducing modest immune responses, the efficacy of the vaccine was just 17.3 per cent, and hence considered insufficient to protect the infants against TB, notes a paper published...

-The Economic Times Food inflation in India, as measured by food articles price index, has averaged 11.3% for the period FY 2008-09 to December 2012, with a maximum of 15.6% in 2010-11 and minimum of 7.3% in 2011-12. In December 2012, wheat prices stood 23% higher than in December 2011, and rice prices 17% higher in the same period. Although this spurt in wheat and rice prices in the face of...

-The Hindu While there is reason to be proud of the progress in the production of wheat, rice, cereals and millets, the use of farmland for non-farm purposes is a cause for concern The year 2013 marks the 70th anniversary of the Bengal Famine which resulted in the death of an estimated 1.5 to 3 million children, women and men during 1942-43. A constellation of factors led to this mega-tragedy, such as...

-Outlook Taking strong exception to certain private FM radio stations making unsolicited calls to people and invading their privacy, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has asked these operators to refrain from such pranks. "It has also been brought to the notice of MIB that some FM operators are making unsolicited calls to members of the public and disturbing their privacy by the way of aggressive comments and conversation which are being broadcast...