-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Constitution bench hearing on the controversial National Judicial Appointments Commission today got entangled in "conflict of interest" issues for the second time in two weeks, with presiding judge J.S. Khehar being asked to recuse. Justice Khehar is in line to take over as Chief Justice of India in January 2017 after Justice T.S. Thakur attains superannuation. Last week, Justice A.R. Dave had been forced to recuse on...

-The Tribune Modern farming techniques beyond the grasp of small & medium farmers Analyses of agrarian troubles in India are full of tragedy. The tragedy lies in two parts. In the first part is the sad story of a farmer who was distressed enough to commit suicide. In the second part is the outrageous behaviour of many bystanders who, in the name of being well-wishers of farmers, use the funeral fires not...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today directed all government and private hospitals to provide not only first-aid, but also follow-up treatment, free to acid-attack victims. The court said states and Union territories could take action under Section 357C of CrPC against private hospitals and clinics for refusal to treat such victims. This section says: "All hospitals, public or private, whether run by the central government, the state government, local bodies or...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The CIC has told the Centre and the state governments to enforce RTI in private hospitals and ensure they provide medical records to patients on a daily basis. In a scathing order against Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, which had refused to give records of a deceased patient to his son, the transparency watchdog has directed that daily disclosure would prevent undesirable practices of altering records after...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Activists and Lawyers have attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks that "five-star activists" were driving the judiciary, saying the remarks were unacceptable and sought to question the legitimacy of activists. Rebel AAP leader Prashant Bhushan, whose petitions led to several important interventions by the Supreme Court on issues ranging from 2G scam to coal scam and Radia tapes, said, "It is a bit rich...