-PTI   Taxmen have seized black money to the tune of a whopping Rs 30,000 crore in the country in the past two years, said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) which is set to get investigative powers to boost its drive against wrong-doers. The CBDT is in the process of creating a Directorate of Criminal Investigation after getting approval from finance minister Pranab Mukherjee last week. CBDT chairman Sudhir Chandra said...

Migrant workers and minorities are among groups that continue to face discrimination in the labour market as a result of the global economic crisis, despite positive advances in anti-discrimination laws, the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report unveiled today. “Economically adverse times are a breeding ground for discrimination at work and in society more broadly. We see this with the rise of populist solutions,” said ILO Director-General...

The recently notified Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, have set the cat among the pigeons. The Rules contain everything one would expect to find in a full-blown privacy legislation, with separate provisions covering the manner in which companies collect, disclose and transfer personal data. There is widespread concern that the Rules will disrupt the way in which companies do business...

-The Hindu   Whatever the intention behind them, the new rules framed last month under the Information Technology Act, 2000 are likely to have a chilling effect on the development of the Internet as a medium of communication and information in India. Apart from the unreasonable restrictions on free speech they envisage, the rules raise serious concerns about the privacy of a citizen's personal information, including medical profile, financial position, and...

Union minister Jairam Ramesh's order notwithstanding, the state forest department is unwilling to transfer the rights over harvesting bamboos to forest dwellers. The department currently holds the right to harvest bamboo in the state. Its contention is that allowing villagers to cut bamboo will affect the sustainability of the produce as forest dwellers do not know the proper rules of harvest. Instead, the officials are ready to send the cut...