Recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stressed that erasing of poverty from a nation which has almost 1.2 billion people will continue to remain a "pipedream" unless some definite measures are taken by the country to step up its growth rate.

Estimates have revealed that India's economy is expected to grow at least 7.2% over the ongoing financial year up-to March 31, but the same seems to be a little difficult considering the factor that the rate of poverty is at an all-time high as well.

The bill demanding a 33% reservation for women in the Parliament has been a hot topic of debate for quite sometime now, and while most were expecting the bill to get a clearance on International Women's Day, that did not happen, and now, the BJP is stressing that it would not vote on the legislation till an extensive debate has been undertaken.

When it comes to cricket, Sachin Tendulkar is a name which has become iconic. In fact, the name is now synonymous with the very word. So it comes as no surprise that the Maharashtra Government is now pushing Sachin's name as a contender for the prestigious Bharat Ratna.

The news has garnered different reactions, with some cheering it, and some others criticizing the same, especially since the call for the award has become much louder after the cricketer managed to achieve the rare feat of hitting a double century in the one-day game format.

It certainly seems so, especially with the visiting Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, for the first ever time acknowledging that the attacks made on Indian students in Australia were racist in nature. Up until now, the Government had been trying to pass these on as everyday theft crimes, and the very huge possibility that these were hate attacks was being hushed up.