Simmering differences between civil society members and government representatives spilled over on Monday after an attempt was made to bring the prime minister and the higher judiciary under the purview of the Lokpal Bill. In its fifth meeting on Monday, while government representatives—including senior Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Kapil Sibal, M.Veerappa Moily, P. Chidambaram and Salman Khursheed—expressed their reservations, civil society members said their demand was “non-negotiable” and threatened another agitation. While...

‘Mere possession of Maoist materials cannot be considered an offence' Observing that mere possession of materials eulogising Maoist ideologies could not be considered sedition, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Kolkata-based businessman Piyush Guha, co-accused with rights activist Binayak Sen in the sedition case, and sentenced to life imprisonment. A vacation Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and C.K. Prasad, after hearing counsel Prashant Bhushan for the petitioner and senior counsel...

The commission plans to file several cases under the SC & ST Act The battle of Bhatta-Parsaul in Uttar Pradesh's Greater NOIDA area, where violence raged recently over the contentious issue of land acquisition, promises to get bigger. On Thursday, the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes decided to summon the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police of Gautam Budh Nagar district, where the twin villages are located, to seek a...

-The Hindu   BNHS Director A.R. Rahmani to head the NPCIL's study The National Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) plans to undertake a comprehensive study to understand the possible effects of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project on the marine ecology and biodiversity in the area. Five environmental organisations will participate in the study, which will be headed by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Director A.R. Rahmani. In a letter, NPCIL chairperson and...

Washington-based Freedom Institute has expressed concern over the decreasing freedom of expression on the Internet in India. The Institute, which put India in the company of states like China, Egypt and Iran which saw a deterioration of freedom of expression on the Internet since the 2009 report, highlighted the tightening of surveillance and prosecution of online posts. India’s freedom index declined from 34 in 2009 to 36 in 2011, reflecting the...