-The Hindu It is shocking that a democratic government is seeking to strengthen the colonial-era Indian Forest Act The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was a remarkable piece of expropriation in the name of conservation. The British government carried out one of the largest land expropriations in history, where the rights to occupy and use forests were transferred from communities with customary and historical property rights to the colonial Central government. The act...

-The Hindu Isolated innovations are not enough to stop cases of custodial torture In May 2017, addressing representatives from countries at the UN’s Human Rights Council, the then Attorney General of India said, “The concept of torture is completely alien to our culture and it has no place in the governance of the nation.” Last week in Sitamarhi district, Bihar, two families received the bodies of their two sons from the police. The...

-PTI AMRITSAR: Protesting farmers in Punjab called off their agitation on Wednesday after Punjab and Haryana high court asked the state government to look into their demands. The farmers had been squatting on the rail tracks in Amritsar since March 4 in support of their demands, including full loan waiver, stopping the auction of land and Arrest of farmers, and payment for sugarcane crop with 15 per cent interest. A petition seeking the...

-The Indian Express Barkha Dutt has alleged that she was receiving threatening phone calls and obscene pictures. On February 19, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had asked Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik to initiate "speedy investigation" into the matter. The Cyber Cell of Delhi police Wednesday registered an FIR in connection with the alleged harassment of journalist Barkha Dutt on social media. Dutt had alleged that she was receiving threatening...

-Scroll.in The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha accused Modi of making false promises to make workers perform their jobs, cheating them of their wages and violating the law. Thousands of workers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act on Thursday tried to file a first information report against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha collective said in a press release. The collective said the attempt was made on occasion of National Day...