Rights organisations today launched a campaign to collect a million signatures against draconian sedition laws, the kickoff coming on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who was among those jailed under such acts. The focus of the drive 65 years after Independence is on repealing Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code — which outlaws disaffection against the state and makes it punishable with life imprisonment. Retired judge Rajinder Sachar, among those...

-The Business Standard   But there's work still to be done The government’s decision to geographically split India between two contending registry projects — the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the National Population Register (NPR) — is intended to save on the wastage that would result from duplicate data collection. Now they will use each other’s data, though duplication cannot be entirely avoided – as P Chidambaram, the Union home minister,...

-IANS   Custodial killings, police abuse including torture, and failure to implement policies aimed at protecting vulnerable communities marred India's record in 2011, according to the Human Rights Watch World Report. The global report released on Monday pointed out that immunity for abuses committed by security forces also continued, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, the northeast, and areas facing Maoist insurgency. However, the report found that killings by the Border Security Force (BSF)...

Civil rights groups blame packaged food supplied to anganwadis  Close on the heels of the damning hunger and malnutrition (HUNGaMA) report, which found 42 per cent children below age five across India underweight and 59 per cent children stunted,  comes another report on the state of nutrition among children in Karnataka state. Over 1.2 million children in the state in the age group of 0-6 years are malnourished and underweight, says a...

-BBC   Indian media have criticised the government for failing to ensure the security of author Salman Rushdie after threats of violence prevented him from addressing an Indian literary festival. Rushdie cancelled a video-link call to the festival after Muslim groups threatened to disrupt proceedings. The author blamed politicians for failing to oppose the groups for "narrow political reasons". Many Muslims regard his book, The Satanic Verses, as blasphemous. It was banned in India in 1988...