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Recession and his efforts to cure it by pushing down interest rates and pumping cash into the economy. Many economists think Yellen's big challenge will be deciding how to ease off some of those very policies, which Bernanke took with Yellen's support.
• "Circumstances may demand more rapid tightening than people are expecting," said Bill Cheney, chief economist for John Hancock Financial Services, who envisions a growing economy this year. He contrasted that with Bernanke, who he said had to decide "when to step on the gas pedal and how hard" as the economy recovered weakly from the recession.
• The Senate confirmed Yellen, a long-time Fed official and economist at the University of California at Berkeley, by a 56-26 vote Monday. Supporting her were all 45 voting Democrats and 11 Republicans, while all opposing votes came from the GOP. Many senators missed the vote because frigid weather canceled numerous airline flights.
• Yellen begins her four-year term Feb. 1, when Bernanke steps down. She has been Fed vice chair since 2010.
• ___
Political brawling over Kolkata rape shows Indian voters watching police on women's safety
• NEW DELHI (AP) -- The 16-year-old reported that she had been gang raped, only to be raped again by the same men the next day and later threatened for going to the police in eastern India. By the time charges were filed more than two months later, she had been set on fire and died from her injuries.
• The girl's death on New Year's Eve in West Bengal came more than a year after a deadly gang rape in New Delhi raised awareness and outrage over chronic sexual violence in India and government failures to protect women. The New Delhi rape was considered a major reason for why voters ousted the capital's government last month, and a furious response to the West Bengal case suggests that with general elections just months away, politicians are anxious to impress voters who are demanding that women's safety become a police priority.
• The teen's family, allegedly run out of town by her assailants, accuses police of trying to cover up the crimes.
• Improving sensitivity by police officers and medical workers is crucial to improving women's safety in this country of 1.2 billion, activists say. Even as the government has promised to improve justice for rape victims, some trying to report sexual (Continued on page 32)
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