The Lokpal was functioning without its regular chief since Pinaki Chandra Ghose completed his term on May 27, 2022.
Amid a spate of hoax bomb threats to multiple airlines, the IT ministry has asked social media platforms to observe due diligence obligations and promptly remove or disable access to misinformation within the strict timelines prescribed under IT rules.
'The Opposition will continue to be attacked through misuse of agencies, civil society will be force-marched towards extinction and India's plummeting on global indices will continue.' 'Minorities and especially Muslims will continue to have open season declared on them. Institutions will continue their decline,' predicts Aakar Patel.
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has met with local police officers and Hindu and Muslim community leaders in Leicester and assured them that thugs behind the recent violent clashes would face the full force of the law.
Last November, a lawyer for Future Retail Limited (FRL) told Delhi high court that Amazon is interfering with its lawful business and thousands may lose their jobs and FRL may go bankrupt. Senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for FRL, likened Amazon to East India Company. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who represented Amazon, told the Future counsel to keep the "East India Company" rhetoric aside, as Amazon has invested $6.5 billion all over India and created 900,000 jobs. This drama played out in the case in which Amazon has challenged Future's $3.4-billion deal with Reliance, alleging the retailer's deal breached an agreement with the American e-commerce firm.
But it would be unwise on the government's part not to heed the suggestions made by the experts group, set up by the Supreme Court, in particular the one on involving the states and giving them the flexibility in designing and implementing the farm laws, observes A K Bhattacharya.
'When I asked whether they would choose a government job that offered Rs 30,000 a month or a private job that offered them Rs 3 lakh a month, without exception, everybody said, "I would rather have the government job!"'
'He is convinced that this will help him in the next election.' 'But as we know, the best laid plans of mice and men can go awry.'
Holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies would need at least five constitutional amendments and a large number of additional EVMs and paper-trail machines costing "thousands of crores of rupees", but will yield a huge long-term saving to the public exchequer, officials said on Friday.
In a letter to the poll panel dated March 21, DMK's Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi alleged Modi made that claim in Tamil Nadu while campaigning for the ensuing LS polls. Modi's remark was a gross violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Model Code of Conduct.
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
Incidentally, the allegations come at a time when Lawrence Bishnoi is in the news in India for his alleged involvement in the murder of Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique in Mumbai.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
The ruling Mahayuti is poised to retain power in Maharashtra with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) also putting up a strong show in assembly polls, most exit polls predicted on Wednesday after conclusion of polling on 288 seats in the state. Jharkhand is likely to see a change of government with BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coming to power in the state, three exit polls said on Wednesday with one poll giving majority to the ruling JMM-led alliance.
A major drawback of the Anti-Defection Law is the lack of precise definition of defection itself, points out Rup Narayan Das.
The 20th Law Commission has mooted the concept of shared parenting and joint custody rights to a child in case the parents opt for a divorce, both parents have equal access to the child and there should be no restricted visiting periods for a parent who does not have rights. While these sound good on paper, we need a more comprehensive report that would look into the whole issue of children's rights, lawyers tell Rashme Sehgal.
"India risks becoming one of the world's main generators of instability, atrocities and violence because of the massive scale and gravity of the violations and abuses targeting mainly religious and other minorities such as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and others. It is not just individual or local, it is systematic and a reflection of religious nationalism," he said.
Josephine had courted controversy when she spoke harshly to a woman complainant of domestic violence during a live television programme of a Malayalam channel on Wednesday, causing embarrassment to the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist.
Democracy does not begin and end with elections and the integrity of election process is pivotal for sustaining the democratic form of government, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while striking down as unconstitutional the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.
'These machines are standalone devices with no external connectivity, making hacking impossible. The chip in EVMs is one-time programmable, ensuring no changes can be made. Strict security and administrative protocols further prevent any tampering'
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the rules issued by the Union health ministry which prohibit donor gametes to couples desirous of having children through surrogacy on the ground that it frustrates the provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which gives the right of parenthood to infertile couples.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called for tough decisions and unity within the party after the Congress suffered electoral defeats in Maharashtra and Haryana. In a meeting with top party leaders, Kharge highlighted the need to strengthen the organization from the grassroots, fix accountability, and address internal bickering. He also urged leaders to remain united and avoid public criticism of each other. The Congress chief expressed concern over the party's performance in state elections despite a strong showing in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. He acknowledged the need to learn from the setbacks and improve the party's strategy and communication to counter its rivals' propaganda.
The re-appointment of the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, which was also challenged in the PIL, has already been set aside by the high court and upheld by the Supreme Court.
The chief adviser alleged elections held under Hasina's regime were "rigged blatantly and generations of young people grew up without exercising their voting rights."
This is the first bill passed by the Lower House of Parliament in the Winter session, which began on Monday.
The apex court observed that it respects the local sentiments but asserted authorities cannot let the law of the land not prevail especially when there is nothing affecting the personal rights or personal laws.
The guidelines have been prepared in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that has envisioned that top universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India.
Samariya, the first Dalit to have been appointed to the post, was working as information commissioner in the transparency panel Central Information Commission (CIC). A 1985-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Telangana cadre, Samariya retired after serving as the labour and employment secretary in the Government of India. He was sworn in as the information commissioner on November 7, 2020.
'Bangladesh has become unstable and this instability will impact India.'
Writing his views in a separate verdict while concurring with the opinion of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was heading the bench, Justice Datta said the question of reverting to "paper ballot system", on facts and in the circumstances, does not and cannot arise.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti said in democratic nations, the freedom to express one's views is respected and the rights of journalists are protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Law Commission to look into the issue of hate speeches being made by leaders of political, social and religious outfits and consider framing guidelines to regulate such provocative statements.
'UCC should be across India and legally applicable to every Indian citizen.'
'Even if we have laws in place, which we must, we need a societal change.' 'Rather than telling our daughters that, "Listen, leave your house at so and so time, come back by so and so time," we must tell the men and boys that "Whatever point of time you encounter a woman in public space or wherever, you treat her with respect, dignity, and as an equal participant in these public spaces".'
His tenure was till December 5, 2027, and he would have become Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after incumbent Rajiv Kumar retired in February next year.
The opposition, which had earlier accepted defeat, is again jumping around today, the UP CM said.
Bangladesh's newly-appointed Home Affairs Ministry adviser has vowed to take swift legal action against those who attack or abuse minorities, stressing that there is no place for violence, conflict, or hatred in the country.
The bench allowed the rejoinder affidavit to be filed by petitioners in two weeks thereafter and posted the matter for final hearing in January, 2025.
Briefing reporters, Nadda said his party has proposed that if holding the three-tier polls together was not possible immediately, then Lok Sabha and assembly elections can be held together first.
'...We should first look at and acknowledge what we have done to ourselves.' 'To not do so opens us to the accusation of rank hypocrisy and also reduces the stature of our globetrotting peaceniks,' asserts Aakar Patel.
