They observed a minute’s silence for the 1,180 martyrs of Bodoland movement. That’s routine. They observed a two-minute silence for Bhupen Hazarika. That’s a huge departure from routine. The silence would have been that of a graveyard, but for the whirring of the generator set at one corner of the field at Silikabari, 6km south from where the Absu’s five-day cycle rally covering 10 districts culminated this morning. It was no coincidence...

-The Economic Times   The Congress-led government has tried to reach out to Other Backward Communities (OBCs) by drastically relaxing the definition of 'creamy layer' and including those with an annual income of Rs 12 lakh in metros eligible for job reservations. The eligibility level in non-metros will be an annual income of Rs 9 lakh.  The existing ceiling for this is an annual income of 4.5 lakh. The National Commission for Backward...

The ‘rarest of rare' doctrine is a grey area: Justice Ganguly Supreme Court Judge A.K. Ganguly on Tuesday termed death penalty “barbaric,” “anti-life,” “undemocratic” and “irresponsible,” but “legal.” Expressing his “personal views” on the subject, Justice Ganguly said the constitutional guarantee of ‘right to life' could not be subjected to vague premises. The ‘rarest of rare' doctrine in death penalty cases “is a grey area as it depended on the interpretation of...

-The Deccan Herald   The governor is a public authority and cannot claim immunity from the Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005, the Bombay High Court ruled on Monday. The judgment pronounced via video-conferencing between Justice D G Karnik sitting in Mumbai and Justice F M Reis in Panaji brings to an end a year-long stand-off between an activist lawyer and the Goa Raj Bhavan over his application for documents under RTI. In December...

On November 11, 2011, a big campaign was launched to make citizens of India aware of the Right to Education Act. The campaign has the potential to engage citizens in demanding their rights. Hopefully, the effort will also push the government at different levels to prepare to provide the “rights” as envisaged by the law.   At the core of the law is a “guarantee” — a guarantee for quality, free and...