-The Hindu Widespread chewing, legendary paan shops and a ‘so-what’ attitude trump disease concerns. Chennai: Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda promised concerned members in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that he would advise all States to ban spitting in public. He was reassuring several MPs led by K.T.S Tulsi, who expressed worry that “the great Indian spit” was causing many communicable diseases. Yet, most municipal laws already prohibit spitting and prescribe penalties....

-The Hindu Differences over appointments process has meant 45% of sanctioned judges’ posts are empty Amid the continuing tussle between the government and the judiciary over the contentious clause in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) on appointment of judges, the number of vacancies of High Court judges has grown to 470 out of the sanctioned strength of 1079. In other words over 45 per cent of the positions of High Court judges are...

-Business Today The elixir of life has been the subject of a dispute of life-threatening proportions between industry and communities. When a life sustaining resource is in short supply, conflicting claims over it are bound to arise. Water conflicts span the gamut of fights, from neighbours in water starved colonies to those between states over river waters. But perhaps the most vital current conflict over water is that between agriculture and industry.   "Around...

Publicly available data collected and collated by the civil society organization DAKSH under the Rule of Law Project shows that in the 21 high courts of India, the average pendency of cases is over 3 years i.e. 1,141 days, as on 11 April, 2016. The oldest case in a high court has been pending since 1 January, 1958, which indicates the extent of delay in getting justice in India. The 21 high...

-The Hindu Chennai: The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy organised a panel discussion on ‘Free Speech and Sedition in a Democracy. Focussing on the recent events that unfolded at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy organised a panel discussion on ‘Free Speech and Sedition in a Democracy,’ touching upon the impact of sedition law on freedom of speech, in Chennai on Thursday. Former...