Question hour in the Rajya Sabha ended five minutes before time Thursday following noisy scenes when a Congress MP alleged a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Gujarat was involved in the killing of RTI activist Amit Jethva. Asking supplementaries on a question on the Right to Information (RTI), Congress MP from Gujarat Alka Balram Kshatriya alleged that a nephew of the BJP MP from Junagadh was involved in the killing...

 In a major development, the Punjab government has finalised a policy for grant of protection to RTI activists. A statement to this effect was made by a law officer appearing on behalf of the government today during the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation filed by Advocate H C Arora, State President of RTI Activists Federation, Punjab. In his PIL, the petitioner had sought directions to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh Administration...

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Central government on a PIL seeking disclosure of contents of all tapes of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia which were tapped by government agencies, except pure private conversations. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S S Nijjar issued notice to the Centre and adjourned the matter for further hearing on February 2. The court passed the order on a petition filed...

Even though the Central Government agreed to link the wages paid under MG-NREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), it shied away from paying statutory minimum wages in various states of India. Their logic for this: Lack of clarity on who will bear the extra financial burden—the Centre or the states? A letter from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to UPA and NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi dated 31...

Safai karmacharis are set to end their two-decade-long movement for a life of dignity on a victorious note. DECEMBER 31, 2010. As revellers across the world prepare to celebrate the end of the first decade of the new millennium and the start of a new year, a million women across India will be celebrating not the end of a calendar year but the end of a centuries-old degrading and inhuman...