The government plans an umbrella law to tighten financial scrutiny and regulation of religious trusts and non-profit organisations as it looks to allay global concerns about money laundering and terrorist financing activities by such entities. It is also likely to make public names of organisations that claim tax exemption to ensure greater transparency. Some of India's religious trusts are among the richest in the world. Last year, Tirumala temple, managed...

The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was passed in August 2009 — a momentous decision, if decades too late. Since last April, when it started functioning, the state has been required, by law, to provide a neighbourhood school that meets a minimum standard within three years. The act mandates a whole range of measures to upgrade the number and quality of schools, like specified teacher-student ratios, making sure...

The Delhi High Court has set up a committee of lawyers and tasked it to collect vegetable and fruit samples for simultaneous testing at a Delhi Government laboratory as well as one certified by National Board for Testing and Calibration for presence of residue of pesticides. A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed the committee comprising Additional Solicitor-General A.S. Chandhiok, Delhi Government Standing...

Unlike the educated elite who go Westwards, attracted by better opportunities and a luxurious lifestyle, those who land up in West Asia as waged labourers have a much harder time: Practically no rights, hostile working environments and absolutely no support systems. Why is it that the violation of their basic rights doesn't figure at all in the national imagination? About the same time that India aired “absolute displeasure and concern” over...

Says the bank has also stopped refinancing farm loans Says no NABARD official has visited his office in a year Criticises Milma for deposits in a private bank Cooperation Minister G. Sudhakaran said here on Monday that the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) had not been taking the initiative to hold discussions on implementing the Vaidyanathan committee report on cooperative sector reforms and had stopped refinancing farm loans in the...