-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 Indian Express Mental illness often stems from early-life trauma. It’s happening in Kashmir. When we think of childhood adversity, we imagine the kind of truly horrible stuff which happened to the character of Bobby in the film Judgementall Hai Kya. While I found the film somewhat cringe-worthy, I thought there was at least one figment of a fact which was credible. The protagonist’s mental illness was seeded by the trauma...

-Down to Earth The court’s suggestions, like making MSP a legal right and INCreasing it to thrice the cost of production, are practical but need effort in implementation, say experts The Punjab and Haryana high court recently recommended that minimum support price (MSP) be made farmers’ legal right and it be set at three times the cost of production. But will these or a slew of other measures the court suggested address...

-The Economic Times Registrar General of India will ask UIDAI to verify biometric data of individuals NEW DELHI: The Registrar General of India will ask the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to verify biometrics of individuals for INClusion in the recently revived National Population Register (NPR) programme, instead of collecting them afresh. A senior home ministry official told ET that this puts an end to the debate on which agency has primacy...

-The Indian Express What is Article 370 and 35A: A recent central ordinance, which extends reservation to SCs and STs in J&K, throws the spotlight on Article 35A, as well as Article 370 from which it derives. What are these two provisions? * What is Article 370? INCluded in the Constitution on October 17, 1949, Article 370 exempts J&K from the Indian Constitution (except Article 1 and Article 370 itself) and permits...