-The Telegraph New Delhi: A clutch of legal amendments the Narendra Modi government has introduced to allow corporate political donors to mask their contributions drags the world's largest democracy against global currents of rising transparency in electoral funding, analysts and activists have warned. From Brazil to Bangladesh, and Croatia to Cyprus, countries of diverse sizes and varied histories with democracy have over the past decade adopted laws and rules aimed at making...

-The Hindu New Bill makes it an offence punishable with life imprisonment, bigger fine. AHMEDABAD: If the newly elected BJP government in Uttar Pradesh launched a crackdown on illegal slaughter houses immediately after the Assembly polls, another BJP-ruled State, Gujarat, which goes to the polls later this year, came up with an amendment to make cow slaughter an offence punishable with life term, a first in the country. The most stringent provision in...

-NDTV In his maiden appearance after being named Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath proclaimed that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government would maintain a laser-like focus on the twin themes of combating corruption and restoring law and order. "In the past 15 years," Adityanath noted, "UP lagged behind in the race of development as previous governments indulged in corruption, nepotism, and failed on the law order front." Indeed, one of...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: Even as people go ballistic over news of meat shops being closed down across UP, what the government is doing is simply enforcing rules regarding slaughter and transport of animals. These rules were hardly wielded by municipal corporations so far. Under the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959, it is a mandatory service of local bodies to provide fresh and hygienic meat to people while ensuring construction...

-Scroll.in The Forest Rights Act recognises the rights of forest dwelling communities and entrusts them with the responsibility for conservation. The residents of Gunehar village in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district are attempting to use the Forest Rights Act to challenge the state Forest Department’s decision to hand over two hectares of local forest land to the Wildlife Department to construct an office complex. At the end of December, the Gunehar panchayat...