-The Hindu The last five years have seen consistent attacks on anti-corruption laws and institutions The popular sentiment that helped the BJP in the 2014 general election was resentment against corruption in public life. The party’s clarion call for a corruption-free India resonated with the electorate, who believed the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate when he pledged, “Na khaunga, na khane dunga (neither will I indulge in corruption, nor allow anyone else to...

-The Hindu It is shocking that a democratic government is seeking to strengthen the colonial-era Indian Forest Act The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was a remarkable piece of expropriation in the name of conservation. The British government carried out one of the largest land expropriations in history, where the rights to occupy and use forests were transferred from communities with customary and historical property rights to the colonial Central government. The act...

-Down to Earth The draft, which has been prepared with focus on conservation and climate change, has been sent to states seeking comments The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has finalised the first draft of the comprehensive Amendments to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (IFA). The 123-page draft provides definitions to important terms that were missing from the law. The draft has been prepared based on the inputs of a...

-The Hindu ‘Ensures transparency, checks misuse’ Electoral bonds have been introduced to promote transparency in funding and donation received by political parties, the government told the Supreme Court on Thursday. “They [bonds] can be encashed by an eligible political party only through their accounts with authorised banks. The bonds do not have the name of the donor or the receiving political party and only carry unique hidden alphanumeric serial numbers as an in-built...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Just a day after Haryana amended the law to allow construction in sections of the ecologically sensitive Aravalis and also protect previous construction, the Supreme Court stayed the decision, slamming it as wilful adventurism that violates the court’s previous orders. The court said the Haryana government’s action was “obnoxious and contemptuous” and expressed annoyance at its “temerity” to violate the SC order that banned mining and...