The draft Communal Violence Bill, prepared by a Working Group (WG) of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), goes beyond existing legislation in four significant ways: it recognises identity-based or targeted crimes and organised mass violence as special offences, while placing accountability of public officials at the heart of the law, with varying penalties for dereliction of duty. Finally, it provides for the creation of a National Authority and...

Washington-based Freedom Institute has expressed concern over the decreasing freedom of expression on the Internet in India. The Institute, which put India in the company of states like China, Egypt and Iran which saw a deterioration of freedom of expression on the Internet since the 2009 report, highlighted the tightening of surveillance and prosecution of online posts. India’s freedom index declined from 34 in 2009 to 36 in 2011, reflecting the...

-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...

Gary Singh’s abduction ordeal illustrates the dangers faced by those who rely on smugglers to make their way overseas One day in 2006, 18-year-old Gubachan “Gary” Singh, an illegal immigrant in Manila, Philippines, was on his way to work when he was approached by four stocky Filipinos. One pulled out a gun, pressing the barrel into the small of his back, while another blindfolded him and shoved him into a van....

-The Hindu   India on Thursday ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption — a politically correct move that ought to take some heat off a government battling serious corruption charges and seen as unwilling to crackdown on black money stashed away abroad. Indeed, in recent days a question often asked was why India had not ratified the Convention when asset recovery is stated explicitly as a fundamental principle of the Convention....