The denial of equality, dignity and autonomy to persons with disabilities lies at the core of disability rights. “Disability need not be an obstacle to success … It is my hope that … this century will mark a turning point for inclusion of people with disabilities in the lives of their societies.” — Professor Stephen Hawking, “Foreword,” World Report on Disability. The inauguration of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of...

The basis of the Bill is not at all on the intervention of the Centre in any of the states. This was one section and even by this one section being there The National Advisory Council, led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, has dropped a controversial section in a draft legislation on communal violence that opponents have interpreted as placing too much authority on the federal government. “The basis of the Bill...

-The Hindu   She will make yet another attempt before monsoon session A meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar here on Wednesday failed to break the deadlock over the Women's Reservation Bill. The Bill to set aside 33 per cent of the seats in Parliament and State legislatures for women was passed by the Rajya Sabha in March last year, but has been held up in the Lok Sabha amid stiff...

-The Times of India   Sometimes, nonsense verse captures it. The film character Anthony Gonsalves, inspired by George Bernard Shaw, sang, "The whole country of the system is juxtapositioned by the haemoglobin in the atmosphere - because you are a sophisticated rhetorician, intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity." Few words apply better to the current Lokpal Bill stand-off. For this to break, the rhetoric must stop with ground being...

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the Hooghly District Magistrate to submit a report on the alleged incidents of pilferage and loot at the site of the Tata Motors car factory (since relocated), after the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 came into force.  Justice Soumitra Pal asked the District Magistrate to submit the report by 11 a.m. Friday, when hearing on Tata Motor's petition challenging the Constitutional...