The Cover Story titled The Job Squeeze highlights how the booming sectors have cut back on hiring and with recession abroad and policy paralysis at home, how young job seekers are finding it difficult to get employment. The Big Story, Land and Loathing on the Bramhaputra talks about the politics of hate that pervades the leafy remoteness of the still volatile Bodoland as the mistrust between empowered tribals and the Muslim underclass continues to grow. The report on Rural Rockstars titled, India Becomes a Village throws light on the villages which have outstripped cities on growth. The Nation section, Coal Secretary took file to PMO, was snubbed, highlights how P.C Parakh tried to ensure transparency in the allocation of coal blocks through bidding but was rebuffed. The Society pain management section, Power Over Pain, talks about an explosion of new research, treatments and therapies that is changing the way pain is understood and managed. The World section, Middle Americas Man, discusses analyses how Mitt Romney is a stolid counterpoise to Obamas exuberance.