-The Hindu When a death sentence is given to satisfy the "collective conscience of the community," it raises troubling questions about the fairness of the trial The verdict of death for the bestial gang rape in Delhi last December is based on Supreme Court judgments, which stipulate that capital punishment will be imposed in "the rarest of rare" cases, where the community's "collective conscience is so shocked that it will expect the...
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Construction of massive steel plant in India must be halted immediately –UN experts
-The United Nations United Nations independent experts today called on Indian authorities to immediately halt the construction of a massive steel plant in the eastern state of Odisha - formerly known as Orissa - which threatens to displace more than 22,000 people Jagatsinghpur District and disrupt the livelihoods of thousands more in the surrounding area. "The construction of a massive steel plant and port in Odisha by multinational steel corporation POSCO must...
More »SC forces Centre to stop clinical trials of 162 drugs
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday forced the Centre to stop clinical trials of 162 new drugs or chemical entities which had been cleared by the expert committee for testing on human beings in India. A bench of Justices R M Lodha and Shiva Kirti Singh was about to pass an order restraining the Centre from going ahead with these clinical trials when additional solicitor general Sidharth...
More »Middle class poised to play greater role in 2014 elections: Zoya Hassan
-The Hindustan Times In recent years, there has been a constant stream of international attention given to the Indian middle class. Thanks to the expansion of this class, India's image has dramatically changed since the 1990s. Instead of the narrative about grinding poverty, India is now seen as the heart of new capitalism that is associated with high rates of growth as well as the consumerist elite and middle classes. The...
More »Suspend Aadhaar, it is leading India to a surveillance state -R Ramakumar
-Deccan Herald One important feature of Aadhaar is its immense potential to violate privacy and civil liberty of the people. This is one of the main issues highlighted by the petitioners in the Supreme Court. Aadhaar envisages a centralised database of Indian residents. At present, the data on each individual is available only in separate "silos" and it is near impossible to link a person's information in one silo to that in...
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