-The Greater Kashmir   Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today accused the JAMmu and Kashmir government of institutional incompetence which is slowly rendering the Right to Information Act a "toothless tiger" in the state. "The manner in which hurdles are deliberately being created to avoid effective RTI implementation apparently points to only conclusion that the government and its administration are hell bent on avoiding answers as it fears that Genie may come out...

 The North Dinajpur district administration has started the proceedings to return more than 70 acres of land to its rightful tribal owners in Ramganj. This is the first time that the administration has taken up the initiative to restore illegally occupied tribal land, an official claimed. On January 16, the subdivisional officer of Islampur, Partha Ghosh, wrote to the district project officer-cum-district welfare officer to begin the proceedings for restoration of the...

-PTI The Symbiosis College in Pune has deferred a seminar on Kashmir after objections by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and an organisation representing displaced Kashmiri Pandits. Representatives of ABVP, the student wing of BJP, and Panun Kashmir, who met the college authorities on Monday, said the proposed screening of a documentary, "Jashn-e-Azadi", at the seminar, "Voices of Kashmir", projected the militants in the Valley as "heroes" and was critical of...

—PTI JAMmu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed surprise over “more resistance” from the Army for removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from certain areas of the State despite assurances that its interests would be protected. Discussions on partial withdrawal of the AFSPA were an “ongoing process,” Mr. Abdullah told PTI here. “Unfortunately, there is more resistance than I would have liked from the Army for reasons...

-PTI India's human rights record in 2011 got a thumbs down from a leading global rights group for its "failure" to protect vulnerable communities and rapped the government for custodial killings, police abuses, including torture. Human Rights Watch also criticised the Indian government for its inaction in repealing the controversial armed forces act and for remaining silent on the "gravest abuses" in countries like Syria. In its World Report 2012, Human Rights Watch...