-The Hindu For two years, national political parties have defied the RTI Act that they themselves passed. They have not sought legal remedy either by appealing against the CIC order declaring them to be Public Authorities. If lawmakers defy the law in this fashion, it sets a bad precedent. Political parties should be more accountable if they break the law, not less Six national parties in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),...

-The Hindu ‘Liberty of speech, expression cardinal concepts of paramount significance in a democracy' Tuesday's verdict is a victory for a loose coalition of young lawyers, Internet activists and researchers who filed separate petitions but helped each other with backroom work and creating public opinion over the last two years. Among the young lawyers who argued the case is Mishi Choudhary, a technology lawyer and founding director of the non-profit, Software Legal Centre,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Recent rains and hailstorm in different parts of the country had damaged Rabi crops in about 181 lakh hectares of land across 13 states during February 28-March 16 with UP and Rajasthan facing the brunt. The affected cultivable land is huge if one looks at the total cultivable area (600 lakh hectare) in the current Rabi season. The wheat crop faced the maximum damage due to...

-The Hindu 'It invades right to free speech, every expression used in it is nebulous' Section 66A of the Information Technology Act is unconstitutional in its entirety, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday striking down a "draconian" provision that had led to the arrests of many people for posting content deemed to be "allegedly objectionable" on the Internet. "It is clear that Section 66A arbitrarily, excessively and disproportionately invades the right of free...

-Economic and Political Weekly While the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 is a progressive piece of legislation that recognises farmers' rights to seed, it demands payment of an annual maintenance fee by the farmers to protect the varieties which they have been cultivating and conserving for years, only because these varieties have been brought under legal protection through national legislation. Parameswaran Prajeesh (prajeesh@mssrf.res.in) is a researcher with the...