-The Indian Express When the RTI Act was enacted, it was never visualised that politicial parties would be brought within the ambit of the transparency law, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an affidavit in the apex court. The government has opposed in Supreme Court a plea to bring political parties under the ambit of RTI Act, saying this would adversely impact their internal working and political functioning. Submitting...

-Frontline As rural Karnataka reels under an unprecedented wave of suicides by farmers, the State administration looks on, unwilling to address the reasons that have rendered rural livelihoods fragile. DEATH stalks rural Karnataka. In the 41 days between July 1 and August 10, as many as 245 farmers committed suicide, an average of six a day; since April 1, 284 farmers have taken their lives. As a bewildered State government gropes...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Should unilateral, triple talaq be banned? An overwhelming number of Muslim women in the country think so. In a first of its kind study, the women have unequivocally voiced their dissent against the discriminatory practice of triple talaq with 92.1% seeking its ban. Oral talaq delivered through new media platforms like Skype, text messages, email and Whatsapp have become an increasing cause of worry for the...

-Hindustan Times The cabinet is to take up a law ministry proposal that aims to dispose of in three years cases involving the Centre and also minimise litigation by the government, the country’s biggest litigant. The new litigation policy — the draft of which has been seen by HT — wants the government to be a facilitator of justice and not a blocker by being a “compulsive litigant”. “We want to transform...

-The Asian Age In granting anticipatory bail to Teesta Setelvad and Javed Anand on August 11, the Bombay high court noted: “A dissenting view cannot be said to be against the sovereignty of the nation.” Like several other recent rulings by the judiciary, the high court also reminded the state of its duty to protect a citizen’s right to criticise and disagree. Successive Indian governments have told the world proudly of the...