-Bar and Bench   The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) currently holding a status of participant (A status) is likely to be downgraded to the position of an observer (B status) when its accreditation renewal comes up for consideration before the United Nations (UN). There are various reasons for this, including the corruption charges raised against Chairman, K.G. Balakrishnan, former Chief Justice of India. Other reasons that are expected to go against...

For most people in cities, Labour Day (or May Day, which was on May 1) was just another public holiday that nobody thought too much about. On a day marked to give voice to the Rights of the Indian work force, perhaps one ought to consider those who have been forced to join their ranks too soon - child labourers. According to government estimates, an astounding 42.02% of the Indian workforce...

-The Indian Express   Indian government uses public funds to alleviate, prevent and end poverty; but, unarguably, does so inefficiently. A new report from the World Bank for the Planning Commission on India’s “social protection” programmes outlines the scope of the failure and provides a few answers. Those programmes can be divided into three kinds, the report argues: those that prevent a slide into poverty, like social security and insurance schemes; those...

The National Advisory Council has proposed a framework for the National Food Security Act. But its potential could be wasted by a flawed approach to the PDS. Two years have passed since the Central government announced that a draft National Food Security Act (NFSA) would be posted on the Food Ministry's website “very soon.” After prolonged deliberations, a detailed framework for this Act has recently been proposed by the National Advisory...

-The Indian Express   The Central Information Commission today directed the CBI to make public information related to corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in the ongoing spectrum allocation scam investigations, overruling the agency's argument that the disclosure would affect probe. The case relates to a Lucknow-based RTI applicant Tanya Thakur who had sought to know from the CBI whether Niira Radia has been made an accused in the telecom spectrum scam or her...