-The indian Express The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Shikha, who was handed over by the Etah CJM to Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on December 7. Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has observed that a 21-year-old Hindu woman, who is married to a Muslim man, “has a choice to live her life on her own terms”. She has now reunited with her husband. In an order passed on December...

-The indian Express Prolongation of these so-called criminal cases is unconscionable, as is forcing vulnerable people into remaining in hotspots of increased infection and fatal risk. Two recent incidents of Stan Swamy and Gautam Navlakha show up the state of our prisons today. Both are undertrial prisoners in the Bhima-Koregaon case. Both had to move the courts for the simplest of necessities. One, to get a sipper cup and a straw because...

-Outlook india A schoolteacher shot right through the eye, businessmen brothers disappeared, a jewellery shop looted of crores, even politicians murdered…Nitish is fast losing his USP. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar may have earned compliments for his administration’s zero-tolerance policy towards crime in his previous three terms—closing the insulting Jungle Raj repeat-phrase that defined the state before his rule. But his latest tenure has thrown up a big challenge on the law...

-TheWire.in Only a serious overhaul can remedy the fundamental shortcomings in our constitution. It is now clear that india, the world’s largest democracy, is being run by an oligarchy, a form of government where the real power lies with just a few individuals and families. This became tragically evident from the recent saga of india’s agricultural reforms. Three farm laws were enacted by a coterie in the Centre without even recognising that...

-Down to Earth As many as 2,067 lives lost to floods in india through the year, the highest in the world due to climate change-induced events Floods and Cyclone Amphan in india accounted for maximum loss of lives globally due to climate change-triggered events in 2020. The cyclone, which ravaged Sunderbans in the southern fringe of West Bengal and hinterland including Kolkata in May 2020, led to “the biggest displacement” in world...