-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Central Information Commission on Monday finally set the ball rolling on action against the six national political parties for violating its directions and not appointing public information officers in the last eight months. The commission issued notices to Congress, BJP, CPM, NCP, BSP and CPI for failing to comply to its June 3, 2013 order that recognized political parties as public authorities. The transparency watchdog...

-Kafila.org The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill was meant to be an enactment to codify India's obligations under the UNCRPD, which it ratified without reservations. There was a Committee set up in 2009 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, headed by Smt. Sudha Kaul, to draft a Bill to this effect. Like the UNCRPD says, the Committee included different people with disabilities - across disabilities - to draft...

-AFP PARIS: New cases of cancer will rise by half by 2030, reaching 21.6 million per year compared to 14 million in 2012, the UN said on Monday in a global analysis of the scourge. Cancer deaths, meanwhile, will likely rise from 8.2 million to 13 million per year as the world's population grows and ages and more people adopt risky lifestyle habits, said the report compiled by the International Agency for...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Disability rights activists from across the country have come together to demand that the government incorporate crucial amendments to the new Disability Rights Bill before introducing it in Parliament on February 5 and passing it. A leaked copy of the bill created a furore as activists realised that the Bill readied to be passed was not the draft available on the ministry of social justice...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: A Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Friday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into allegations of financial irregularities in MGNREGS in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh. Expressing displeasure over corruption in the scheme's implementation, the bench also directed the agency to hold preliminary inquiry into use of MGNREGS funds in other districts of the state. The court said the agency should conduct...