-Down to Earth Seizures of ivory, skins and bones of wildlife species represent only those cases which come to light The Supreme Court order, which has set aside the suspension of conviction of Salman Khan in the blackbuck shooting case, once again brings into focus the high rate of wildlife crimes in India. The scale of the crimes in the country can be gauged from some of the information put out by the...

-The Hindu In India, the right to vote is only a statutory right, but the act of voting is a constitutionally protected ‘freedom of expression' under Article 19, as a fundamental right (PUCL, 2013). The Supreme Court recently refused to hear a petition challenging the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 on procedural grounds, sending it back to the High Court. The controversial ordinance introduces a set of educational qualifications of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Indian immigration today stopped a Greenpeace activist from flying to Britain where she intended to tell parliamentarians that a London-registered company's coalmining activities in India were infringing on forest communities' rights. The environmental organisation said its senior campaigner Priya Pillai, who had a valid business visa to visit Britain, was stopped at Delhi airport and denied permission to board her London flight. Her passport was stamped "offloaded". Pillai had...

-The Indian Express Just a few years ago, the World Bank in its World Development Report claimed that migration from rural India to urban centres is "natural" and the same should not be interrupted or prevented through schemes like the MGNREGA. This was a shocking statement to all those who know why there is huge and ever-growing migration to cities, not only of the labour class but also of farmers and small...

-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: For a long time, 12- year-old Rohan, an HIV positive child, was in pain but could not comprehend why. For months, he passed blood with his stools. Finally, a counsellor drew a sketch after Rohan pointed to his mouth and back and the truth emerged: He was regularly being forced into oral and anal sex. Rohan then drew a picture of Ashish, one of his co-inmates at...