-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In its path-breaking verdict linking right to life with right to die with dignity, the Supreme Court on Friday took the first step towards giving judicial support to the much canvassed proposition that it was inhuman to punish a distressed person who failed to end his life through suicide. Section 309 of IPC provides that "whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The law commission has recommended to the Centre compensation to victims of custodial torture and deterrent punishment that may include Life imprisonment of the perpetrators. The recommendations assume significance against the backdrop of frequent allegations that police resort to third-degree torture to extract confessions and statements from the accused. The commission's report, authored by its chairperson Justice (retd) B.S. Chauhan, was submitted to Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has recently ordered closure of many polluting units in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, but such a 'drastic' step could soon be the last resort if the government finally legislates a proposed law which imposes heavy fines on violators instead of shutting them down altogether. The proposed law provides for an increase in the existing penalty from Rs 1 lakh to...

-TheWire.in Adivasi leaders and activists say that behind the recent communal legislations is the state government’s hidden agenda to transfer community land to corporates and deflect attention from its failure to address crucial developmental issues plaguing the state. New Delhi: The abuse and heckling that Jean Drèze had to face at the hands of BJP leaders on the eve of 70 years of India’s independence is startling, not just because of the...

-Hindustan Times In the index released on Wednesday, India was ranked just three places above Pakistan and was one notch below violence-torn Palestine. India slipped three places in the 2017 world press freedom rankings to 136th among 180 countries, the dismal performance blamed on “Modi’s nationalism” and growing “self-censorship” in the mainstream media. In the index released on Wednesday, India was ranked just three places above Pakistan and was one notch below violence-torn...