Its elimination is an international obligation, but there is a long way to go to meet the goal While governments and civil society commemorate the World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, over 20 crore children are still engaged as child labourers. More than half of them face the worst forms of child labour. Though India has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of child labourers, this...

In a decision which might irk RTI activists, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been exempted from giving information under Right to Information Act. The decision was taken by the Cabinet on Thursday following repeated requests by the agency on the grounds that it probed sensitive cases, and in doing so, it "becomes difficult for it to share information and also in accessing the information'. The Cabinet took note of CBI's...

In its wisdom, the state giveth and the state taketh away. When it acquires farmlands claiming eminent domain, there is blood on the streets. However, when it quietly bestows largesse on chosen ones, it is barely noticed. At worst there is a lawsuit. There were a dozen lengthy judgments from the Supreme Court in the past two months on land acquisition disputes — a mark of the times. But the biased...

On a day when the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to the government seeking reports within two weeks on the early morning crackdown on Baba Ramdev's supporters on the Ramlila Grounds here on Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the episode as “unfortunate” but justified it, saying there was “no alternative.” In his first comments on the episode here, Dr. Singh told journalists: “It is unfortunate that the operation...

-PTI   A desperate government's efforts failed today to achieve any breakthrough with Baba Ramdev deciding to go ahead with his indefinite fast here from tomorrow amidst indications that a compromise was likely in a day or two. For nearly five hours, two senior union ministers Kapil Sibal and Subodh Kant Sahay negotiated with the yoga guru over his demands on eradication of corruption at a posh hotel, a venue totally different...