-Human Rights Watch Reform Laws Choking Freedom of Expression, Association New York: The Indian government failed to stop or credibly investigate vigilante attacks against minority religious communities during 2017, Human Rights Watch said today, releasing its World Report 2018. Many senior leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) publicly promoted Hindu supremacy and ultra-nationalism at the expense of fundamental rights for all Indians. Extremist Hindu groups, many claiming to be affiliated...

-The Hindu Jaipur: Upping the ante against the Vasundhara Raje government, leading Hindi daily Rajasthan Patrika on Thursday left its editorial blank, with a thick black border, to register its strong opposition to the controversial criminal law ordinance that puts restrictions on the media and gives protection to public servants. The newspaper headquartered in Jaipur, which has already announced its boycott of Chief Minister Raje, decided to leave the editorial blank on...

-The Hindu The former Attorney General about recent landmark judgments of the Supreme Court, the credibility of the court, and the sedition law Former Attorney General of India, Soli Sorabjee, was given the Padma Vibhushan 15 years back for his defence of the Freedom of Expression and protection of human rights. Now, at 87, Mr. Sorabjee says he is looking forward to making his arguments in a pending case on Aadhaar. Excerpts...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Advocates of transparency have a new worry amid the euphoria over the privacy verdict - the possibility of information commissioners citing the new fundamental right to deny answers under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As it is, RTI activists have had to contend with commissioners using Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act to refuse information on the premise that it infringes upon a person's privacy. The section...

-The Indian Express Farmers’ protests threaten the BJP’s rise. But local character, lack of ideological vision limit their potential. The protests by farmers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh should not be seen in isolation. Besides the political economy of these protests, the implications for competitive politics are going to be complex. In order to appreciate these implications, the farmers’ protests need to be situated in the larger backdrop — despite the...