The Ministry of Home Affairs informed a Joint Committee of Parliament that the number of active NGOs registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act has halved over the last decade, even as foreign funds received by them have significantly increased. Christian associations received the largest share of these funds in 2024-25. The report comes amidst discussions on a contentious FCRA amendment bill aimed at tighter government oversight.
A bipartisan US body claimed that religious freedom conditions in India remained on the downward trajectory in 2026, citing restrictions on activities of NGOs, censorship and transnational repression.
The government is considering sending 'The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026' to a joint committee of both houses of Parliament for further examination, even as the Congress and some other opposition parties have demanded that it be withdrawn, sources said on Tuesday.
The Lok Sabha has referred the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, to a 31-member joint parliamentary committee for thorough scrutiny.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly has adopted crucial resolutions against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, with the lone BJP member opposing both.
Home Minister Amit Shah has offered to hold a comprehensive debate in Parliament on student protests and other pressing issues, but Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has swiftly rejected the proposal, demanding accountability for actions against students.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma met Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026. Shah assured that the bill would not be retrospective. Various church and minority organisations have expressed concerns about the bill's impact on NGOs, schools, and healthcare units, urging its withdrawal or referral to a joint parliamentary committee.
Major bills, including those on women's reservation, delimitation, and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), face an uncertain future in the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament due to persistent opposition protests and a lack of consensus.
Lok Sabha takes up FCRA Amendment Bill amid opposition protests.
The Congress party has directed its MPs to attend Parliament and protest against the FCRA Amendment Bill, describing it as unconstitutional and a threat to minority organisations. The government asserts the bill aims to enhance transparency and prevent misuse of foreign funds.
The West Bengal cabinet has approved the formation of two panels headed by retired judges to investigate alleged institutional corruption and atrocities against women and children during the previous TMC regime.
The minor was rescued after the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of Mira-Bhayander Vasai-Virar police, in a joint operation with NGOs Exodus Road India Foundation and Harmony Foundation, raided a flat in Naigaon in Vasai in Palghar on July 26, the official said.
A look at NADA's list of suspended athletes reveals that wrestling has the second most dope offenders among all sporting disciplines in India.
Her team scour platforms and trains, looking out for vulnerable children accompanied by adults who look or behave suspiciously or whose presence makes the child uncomfortable. They also look out for children travelling alone. 'We watch, listen and talk. All this is done tactfully and sensitively because we are dealing with young children.'
rediffGURU Dr Shakeeb Ahmed Khan, a senior physiotherapist, offers advice to patients dealing with various long-term illness.
A two-judge bench of the top court had on August 11 directed authorities in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) to start picking up stray dogs from all localities "at the earliest" and relocate the animals to dog shelters.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced reservation for Muslims in supplying goods and services up to a value of Rs 1 crore to various government departments, corporations and institutions in the state budget for 2025-26. The budget also increased the value limit of government contracts in which Muslims can avail reservation to Rs 2 crore. The reservation to Muslims under 2B category is in addition to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Castes coming under Category-1, Category-2A. The budget also included various welfare schemes for minorities, including Rs 50,000 to support simple marriages and Rs 1,000 crore under the Chief Minister's Minority Colony Development Programme.
This is needed to maintain the purity of judicial process and fairness in ongoing trials riots' cases, it said.
The US state department in its annual report to the Congress on international religious freedom has alleged that in India in 2021, attacks on members of the minority communities, including killings, assaults, and intimidation, occurred throughout the year.
As the election nears, political positions on prohibition are shifting.
The state government decides to take over the management of all shelter homes after incidents of sexual abuse surfaced in Muzaffarnagar, reports M I Khan.
The issue of hoax bomb threats to more than 400 schools in the capital triggered a political storm ahead of the Delhi assembly polls on Tuesday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party raising questions about the possible links between those involved and the Aam Aadmi Party, prompting the latter to strongly rebuke the claims.
At least nine such NGOs that had 'gau' or 'cow' in their names are on the list.
India previously rejected the US religious freedom report, saying it sees no locus standi for a foreign government to pronounce on the state of its citizens' constitutionally protected rights.
Muzzling NGOs is unbecoming of a democracy. Self-confident democracies encourage, indeed applaud, the involvement of citizens' associations, including NGOs, in social and political decision-making and development planning. Instead, our paranoid government bullies and terrorises them, says Praful Bidwai.
Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi Monday said there is still a 'degree' of standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and both sides need to sit down and firm up a broader understanding on how to calm down the situation.
'Yes, we engage when those issues come up and try to strike that balance between what is an internal domestic matter for the government to resolve, and what's an issue that actually should be raised on the bilateral level.'
The Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed a public interest litigation over the alleged molestation of a boy by the Dalai Lama, as claimed to have been shown in a video clip that went viral last year, saying the religious leader was "being playful" and has already apologised for the incident.
Thousands of fans thronged the Marine Drive in south Mumbai to witness the victory parade of the Indian cricket team on Thursday evening.
A meeting of the joint committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday witnessed fireworks with members vociferously opposing certain provisions of the draft legislation, leading to a brief walkout by opposition members.
An independent United States Congressional research report has alleged that the scope and scale of human rights abuses in India has increased under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The observations came from a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala while reserving the verdict on an appeal filed by NGOs -- Just Rights for Children Alliance of Faridabad and New Delhi-based Bachpan Bachao Andolan -- challenging a Madras high court verdict.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Saturday said the Lok Sabha poll mandate is a "decisive rejection" of the politics of divisiveness and hate, and stressed that the INDIA bloc must continue functioning cohesively both inside and outside Parliament.
'Why is a powerful person called Amit Shah who camped in Manipur for three days not able to maintain law and order in the state?'
The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommended to the Congress to raise the issue of religious freedom during US-India bilateral meetings, and hold hearings on it.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Datta granted four weeks to the Delhi government counsel to file a further status report in the matter and listed it for hearing on May 4.
Religious minorities in India have been subjected to "violent attacks, forced conversions" and 'Ghar Wapsi' campaigns by groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after the Modi government assumed power in 2014, a US Congress-established panel has said.
A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and B V Nagarathna issued notice to the Union government and said it will hear the petitions in February 2023.
The top court also took note of the submissions about objectionable public utterances by some groups and individuals.
Religious freedom and related human rights in India are under ongoing threat, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom alleged on Tuesday in an unusual year-end update of the status of its assessment of religious freedom in the country.
