Yet another midday meal tragedy appeared to be in the making in Bihar on Friday when 40 schoolchildren fell ill after eating the free school lunch and were hospitalised. Three of the 25 “very sick” children were put under intensive medical care.

A young housewife who had come to visit her husband, lodged at Howrah Jail in connection with a dacoity case, was allegedly gangraped by four youth on August 13 night.

After a respite of four days, the hills is again likely to witness a complete shutdown for five consecutive days from August 19 to 23. To avoid inviting the wrath of the judiciary, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has refrained from describing the new agitation as bandh or janata curfew.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea filed by the Centre and other political parties seeking a review of its two significant judgments disqualifying MPs and MLAs on being convicted in criminal cases and prohibiting arrested persons from contesting elections.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government for arresting dalit scholar Kanwal Bharti for allegedly writing a Facebook post criticising the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Uttar Pradesh government after she took action against illegal sand mining in the state.

These are the cases of “missing” IAS officers in Uttar Pradesh. These officers proceeded on leave initially and then never returned. Some did apply for extension of leave but never bothered to ascertain whether or not their leave had been granted.

In a significant observation, the Supreme Court on Friday said that if the government blocks any objectionable content available online, it does not amount to violation of freedom of expression.

After extending their support to 12-hour blockade on all the national highways crossing through Bodoland Territorial Council on Friday, the All-Bodo Students’ Union has decided to give a relief of another 10 days to the government which assured them in a letter on Thursday to hold a tripartite meeting to discuss their statehood demand.

Will the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2013, introduced by environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan in the Rajya Sabha in the current session of Parliament act as a deterrent to wildlife crime?

It was speech versus speech. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, took on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and in a veiled attack on his brand of hawkish politics warned that “narrow and sectarian ideologies” would weaken democracy in the country.