-TheCitizen.in NEW DELHI: The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on August 7 released a report detailing the donations declared by regional political parties to the Election Commission (EC) for the 2016-17 financial year. Of the 48 parties considered in the report, 16 including the People’s Democratic Party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen have yet to submit their declarations to the EC. A further six claim to have received no contributions at...

-The Indian Express Data on hate crime needs to be collected through recording bias indicators, group identity of victims and the nature of violence. In the midst of a perceptible rise in cases of lynching and mob violence against religious and caste minorities, the Supreme Court has called for firm action to prevent, remedy and punish these horrific acts. On July 17, the Court issued guidelines and also recommended that Parliament enact...

-Hindustan Times Election Commission of India (ECI) is outgunned when it comes to confronting those who circumvent existing campaign finance rules and lacks power to sanction candidates. It is a truism to note that political finance sits at the heart of corruption in modern India. While politicians publicly lament the status quo, they privately profit from the current system. Therefore, the fact that the Narendra Modi government has made reforming political finance...

-The Indian Express Instead of fiddling with procurement prices, government must devise an income policy for farmers. Speaking at the 37th foundation day celebrations of the NABARD, Arun Jaitley gave food for thought to the audience when he said, “If there is any area in the economy where we can give an example to the world and to ourselves of cooperative federalism, it is the agriculture sector. It can benefit people more...

-ThePrint.in The Financial Sector Reforms and Legislation Division has agreed with the EC’s view, which is that the new laws are ‘retrograde’ and need to be withdrawn. New Delhi: The Election Commission’s concerns over the transparency of electoral bonds, introduced via the Finance Act, 2017, have been supported by the Financial Sector Reforms and Legislation Division of the finance ministry. According to an RTI filed by activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd), an official...