-The Hindu "Why this selective concern about encounter killings in Gujarat - these happen all over the country," pleaded Gujarat's lawyer at a Supreme Court hearing of veteran journalist B.G. Verghese's public interest petition on 22 unexplained police killings in that state. When a 13-year-old boy was abducted from a Delhi jhuggi by Gujarat police officials on a whim, the State government's defence was first that the boy was Bangladeshi, next that...
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Lethal surveillance versus privacy-Shalini Singh
-The Hindu There has been no public debate on the level of watch citizens can be put through, and on what the red lines should be while using intrusive mechanisms The tussle between government agencies' need for a better, faster and real-time interception, surveillance and monitoring mechanism through the Central Monitoring System (CMS), on the one hand, and demands by privacy, civil rights and free speech activists, for ensuring higher privacy for...
More »Mental illness, a secret often hidden away in urban families -Johnson TA
-The Indian Express Last October, authorities in the north Karnataka city of Davangere rescued a 37-year-old man whose family had walled him into a room, with only a tiny window for ventilation, for 10 years after he had begun showing signs of schizophrenia. This month, authorities in Bangalore rescued a 35-year-old woman whose parents are said to have confined her at home for over five years after she showed signs of possible...
More »CIC asks NTRO to reveal ex-employee’s appraisal reports -Himanshi Dhawan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a rare exception, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) to disclose the annual appraisal report of an ex-employee. The technical intelligence agency is exempt from RTI except in cases of Human Rights Violation and corruption. The applicant, Odisha-based Subhendushree Routroy, had sought his annual performance appraisal reports for 2008, 2009 and 2010. He was sacked from NTRO and he...
More »Torture a common probe tactic, activists say -Aniruddha Ghosal
-The Times of India GHAZIABAD: Shaqueel's body was sent for postmortem by Ghaziabad police to ascertain the cause of death. A murder case has also been registered. Police sources say a preliminary examination of the autopsy suggests he was suffering from a chronic illness, which combined with the stress he was under after the arrest, had led to his death. Police say they will come down heavily on any official found...
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