-Hindustan Times The changes empower the government to designate individuals as terrorists, merely if it believes so On August 8, 2019, the President assented to amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, introducing a set of changes to an already draconian law. The most fundamental of these changes empowers the government to designate individuals as terrorists, merely if it believes so, leaving little to no recourse for them to protest...

-The Hindu Where does Jammu and Kashmir stand in comparison to other States in key indicators of growth and development Union Home Minister Amit Shah has linked poor healthcare, poverty, lack of doctors and slow economic growth in Jammu and Kashmir to amendment to Article 370. However, a look at how the State, now bifurcated into Union Territories, compares with other States in key indicators suggests that these concerns are exaggerated. Life expectancy Jammu...

-The Hindu Advocate says the move was unconstitutional and illegal A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging the August 5 notification of the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order of 2019, which amends Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and scraps its 65-year-old predecessor — The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order of May 14, 1954 — as unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary. The petition filed by...

-The Hindu Many of them are understaffed and under-resourced Fast-track courts are in the limelight yet again. Smriti Irani, Minister for Women and Child Development, informed the Rajya Sabha that the government has proposed to set up 1,023 fast-track courts to clear the cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court in a suo motu petition had issued directions, stating that districts...

-The Hindu The Centre is riding roughshod over Kashmiri public opinion already beset with disaffection In the face of a massive security build-up in Kashmir at the close of July, a seasoned journalist conjectured, “This is just the right time when militants and their masters in Rawalpindi could do with a terror attack in Kashmir.” Such were the arguments trotted out by experienced media persons in seeking to account for the extraordinary...