-The Indian Express Firebrand leader who rose swiftly till downfall She rose swiftly through the ranks, having made her mark as a firebrand leader who had saffron politics as part of her legacy. Mayaben Surendrabhai Kodnani, convicted of murder, conspiracy and spreading communal hatred, is the daughter of a staunch RSS worker who had suffered the pains of Partition, moving from Tharparkar in Sind province to Deesa in Gujarat. Kodnani, the first sitting...

-The Hindu Following resistance to the ban on tourism in core areas of tiger reserves by several States, NGOs and interested parties, the Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the Centre to review existing norms and come up with comprehensive guidelines on ‘Tiger Project’ and ‘sustainable tourism.’ A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar gave this permission after Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati drew the court’s attention to the objections received and...

-The Economic Times A presidential pardon can be a FRAught proposition with the waiting time for death row convicts ranging from three years to 20 years. Gurmeet Singh from Pipariya village in Uttar Pradesh has been on death row for the last 20 years after being convicted for the murder of 13 family members. Twenty-six years since that dark night when he committed the crime, Gurmeet continues to wait for a decision...

-The Hindu ‘Amend Rule 24 suitably to remove the limitations on liability’ A parliamentary panel has come down heavily on the government for imposing limitations on liability amount as well as the duration of the liability period under the proposed rules under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act. Noting that the limitations imposed under Rule 24 of theCLND were not contemplated under the Act, the panel pointed out rules must be consistent...

-The Hindu The response to my article by Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Rural Development, and his colleagues is a welcome move towards a public debate which we have suggested, time and again, should be held in every State with all people’s organisations. I would like to briefly reply to some points in the Minister’s response: His argument that land is finite cannot be used to justify forcible acquisition. The Bill...