While Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is proud that the State has an impressive 98.69 per cent disposal rate of requests under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the murder of two CAMPAigners who used the law to good effect is a blot. First, it was Satish Shetty at Talegaon, near Pune, who was killed on January 13, and more recently Dattatray Patil at Ichalkaranji, in Kolhapur district, on May 22....
More »SEARCH RESULT
EU to overhaul GM crop system
The European Union is to radically overhaul its approval system for genetically modified (GM) crops from next month, opening the way to large-scale GM cultivation in Europe, EU sources said on Friday. With most Europeans showing no appetite for GM produce in food, EU politicians have approved just two varieties for growing in 12 years, compared with more than 150 worldwide. Under proposals due to be adopted on 13 July,...
More »Fresh hopes over food security
The June 1 announcement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while releasing the Report Card for the first year of the second term of the United Progressive Alliance Government, that the Food Security Bill was under preparation and that the Bill would be placed in the public domain for scrutiny and wider consultation has raised hopes about early enactment of the law to ensure the people's right to food as part...
More »Rethinking the law on sexual assault by Kalpana Kannabiran
Human rights groups combating sexual assault, women's groups and groups working on child rights have come together to reflect on the extent to which the proposed Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2010 addresses concerns on the ground. The Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2010, being proposed to bring about changes in the criminal laws with respect to protections against sexual assault, has been a subject of discussion and popular misinterpretation in the...
More »Street vendors demand a fair deal
The National Association of Street Vendors of India held a demonstration at Town Hall here on Tuesday demanding street vending licences and implementation of the national policy for urban street vendors. The demonstration marked the conclusion of the Association's gherao CAMPAign titled “World Class Cities for All” which began in the Capital on May 10. Similar demonstrations were held in other parts of the city as part of a CAMPAign to protest...
More »