-The Hindustan Times The Jammu and Kashmir government’s fresh Amendments have rendered the most successful institute of public transparency and accountability, state Right to Information Act, powerless, triggering sharp reactions from civil society and political parties. Surprised state’s chief information commissioner G.R Sofi accused Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led government of making unnecessary changes to make state information commission (SIC) a “toothless body”. “In first place, there was no reason to come up with...
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Give them their rights -Thomas Chandy
-The Hindustan Times Amid the din of the discordant notes in Parliament and outside on scams, a significant decision by the Union cabinet went almost unnoticed. Earlier this week, the Cabinet amended the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (CLPRA), 1986, and renamed it as the Child and Adolescent Labour Prohibition Act (CALPA). When Parliament passes the important Amendments, CALPA, along with the Right to Education (RTE) Act, it is likely...
More »The age of judicial reform -TR Andhyarujina
-The Hindu In keeping with global practices, Supreme Court judges should retire at 70 On August 18, 2012, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking at the 150th year celebrations of the Bombay High Court, said the government was in favour of raising the age of retirement of High Court judges. Presently, Supreme Court judges retire at 65 and High Court judges at 62. The Prime Minister was referring to the Constitution (114th Amendment)...
More »Centre cites SC on coal
-The Telegraph The government today dug out a 2006 verdict to argue that the Supreme Court was against auction of coal blocks as law minister Salman Khurshid questioned the presumptive revenue loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore in the allocation of 57 blocks. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, who addressed a joint media conference with Khurshid, read out the verdict that had nullified the NDA government’s plan for e-auction of coal blocks. The verdict...
More »Finally, the will for the right ban-Enakshi Ganguly Thukral
-The Hindu The Cabinet decision to seek total prohibition of child labour is a step long overdue The Cabinet Committee has passed the proposal seeking a total ban on employing children under 14 years and of 14-18 year olds in hazardous occupations. When passed in Parliament as law, it will be a huge milestone in the journey that many of us had started in the mid-1980s. This also marks a milestone in...
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