-The Hindustan Times Enacted in 1958 to deal with the Naga uprising in the then composite state of Assam, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was reviewed by the Justice BP Jeevan Reddy Committee in 2005, which recommended that it be scrapped.   The Reddy report remains untabled in Parliament, despite the recent outcry, triggered by the Justice Verma Committee’s view that the Act needs to be reviewed (in the light...

-PTI Chief Justice of India Justice Altamas Kabir today said that the Delhi gangrape incident on December 13 was not 'unique', but one among many. "What happened on December 16 in Delhi was sad and bad and something extraordinary, but at the same time not unique. This was made into a kind of an iconic situation," Kabir said at an event organised by the Calcutta High Court here to mark International Women's...

-The Telegraph Ranchi: The state information commission, mandated to ensure enactment of a sunshine law that aims to empower citizens by allowing access to crucial official documents and decisions has stopped work in Jharkhand as it has no officer to hear cases. Headed by chief information commissioner Justice (retired) D.K.Sinha, the commission is meant to have 10 information commissioners (IC) to hear cases filed under the Right to Information Act. But, all posts...

-The Hindustan Times Racing against time to meet the March 22 deadline for getting Parliament’s nod on its tougher anti-rape bill replacing the existing ordinance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called a special cabinet meeting on Tuesday to approve the proposed legislation. On a day when Congress chief Sonia Gandhi promised a quick passage of the bill and said crimes against women make “our heads hang in shame”, the government went into...

-The Hindu Until we embrace the idea of consent in all relationships, including marriage, there can be no gender equality. Its absence makes discussions on sexual abuse meaningless The man who was my abuser was a fine host, a good husband, a caring father, a respected elder whose generosity and kindness were as genuine as the fact of the abuse. These qualities were important, because they helped him conceal the abuse he...