-The Hindu The islanders have to be consulted before any change is imposed, they say A group of retired bureaucrats wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday to express concern over what it termed were “disturbing developments” in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep “in the name of development”. Ninety-three former All India and Central services officers of the Constitutional Conduct Group wrote to Mr. Modi on the occasion of...

-The Indian Express The realities of torture and its prosecution in India would temper our expectations from this one development. The Supreme Court needs to ensure robust implementation of its order and simultaneously plug the gaps so that incidents of torture are curtailed. In a bid to curb torture, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court recently mandated that CCTV cameras be installed in police stations and offices of other investigative agencies....

Often exports made by a country to the rest of the world are seen in a positive light by us. It is because exports not only earn precious foreign currencies (that can be used for importing goods and services or simply be used for building forex reserves), it also helps in generating effective demand for goods and services produced in that country and hence, contributes to economic or GDP growth....

-Down to Earth Inspector General of Forests AK Mohanty sent letter to all states, alleging discrepancies About 70 per cent data on compensatory afforestation was “incorrect or incomplete”, according to a letter Inspector General of Forest, AK Mohanty. The letter, dated August 10, 2020, was sent to principal secretaries for forests of all states and Union territories. The data in question was for work done under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 and...

-TheWire.in As one village prepares to take the government to court, another claims panchayat land reserved for scheduled castes was auctioned by proxy to ‘upper caste’ families. Chandigarh: One-and-a-half months ago, Amrik Kaur, sarpanch of village Sekhowal in Ludhiana district, was asked to attend a meeting at the Ludhiana deputy commissioner’s office. There, she was asked to give her consent for the transfer of a portion of the village common (shamlat) land...