-The Times of India MANDLA/JABALPUR: Tribals in Kundam, a settlement 40 km off Jabalpur, call it a black demon, one who strikes select families and ensures an early and agonizing death by sucking its victims white. For once, medical experts couldn't agree more with this home spun wisdom that aptly describes sickle cell - an incurable genetic disorder which damages vital organs like liver, kidney, heart and spleen. The disease manifest at...

-The Hindu India Specific Safeguard Agreement being implemented very smoothly The Indian civil nuclear programme as well as the country’s tightening of laws to check nuclear proliferation came in for praise from Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano. Speaking to journalists here after touring Tarapur Atomic Power Station’s units 3 & 4, Dr. Amano lauded the “serious efforts, enthusiasm by the operators, engineers to further improve, further enhance the...

-The Indian Express Differences within the Cabinet over the proposed amendments to rape-related laws were resolved Wednesday when a Group of Ministers recommended that the phrase “sexual assault” be replaced with the word “rape” in all laws, age of consent for sex be retained at 16, and a provision that provides for punishment for filing false complaints be done away with. The recommendations of the GoM, headed by Finance minister P Chidambaram,...

-Live Mint Attempt to broad-base direct benefits transfer plan may help shore up the Congress’s standing among rural population The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government plans to include its flagship rural job guarantee programme in the second phase of its ambitious direct benefits transfer (DBT) plan, under which beneficiaries of social welfare programmes will receive money directly in their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. The attempt to broad-base the cash transfer plan before several...

-The Times of India The government is redrafting the anti-rape law following serious concerns raised by Cabinet members that the proposed legislation was loosely-worded and open to MISuse, and did not account for new social realities of a growing women workforce and inadequacies of law enforcing agencies. The criminal law amendment bill was urgently referred to a group of ministers after objections were raised at Tuesday morning's Cabinet meeting over the formulation...