-The Hindu The Delhi High Court order striking down the Begging Act heeds the Constitution’s transformative nature In 1871, the colonial regime passed the notorious Criminal Tribes Act. This law was based upon the racist British belief that in India there were entire groups and communities that were criminal by birth, nature, and occupation. The Act unleashed a reign of terror, with its systems of surveillance, Police reporting, the separation of families,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In the wake of recent violence in parts of northern India, allegedly by Kanwarias, the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday decried what it said is the increasing lawlessness and vandalism indulged in by religious groups and said it would lay down guidelines to prevent vandalism by mobs. The top court further said the destruction of private property, even if no FIR is filed, is a cognizable...

-The Hindu ‘Appreciative mechanisms for welfare of children living there could be replicated’. The social audit report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), which exposed the sexual abuse of 34 minor girls at a State-run shelter home in Muzaffarpur, has also pointed out that there are at least seven shelter homes that could, in fact, be models for other such institutions in the State. The 100-page TISS report has not been...

-The Times of India In time of a raging debate over jobless growth, nearly 24 lakh posts are lying vacant with the central and state governments, data compiled from answers to various questions in Parliament show. A Rajya Sabha question answered on February 8 shows that the largest chunk is the over 10 lakh vacant positions for teachers in elementary (9 lakh) and secondary schools (1.1 lakh). Apart from the vacancies in the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: For decades, the malkhanas in Police stations, which store case properties and evidence, have been so poorly organised that legal proceedings have regularly been affected. On many occasions, the case properties have been misplaced, even stolen. At other times, the cops have wasted months trying to locate evidentiary items. These might now change with Delhi Police set to digitise all malkhanas. After a six-month effort, Police...