Former Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur on Wednesday said people getting killed by lynch mobs is a “complete failure of the principle of rule of law” and an independent judiciary is essential to protect the Constitution and the rule of law. The former CJI also hinted at the churn …

The government told the social media platforms that fake news or abusive news could not be circulated and re-circulated to “create crimes”, Mr. Prasad said. “Therefore, the origin of those news should also be technologically answered. I have made it clear to them that it does not need rocket science …

While the focus of the NRC has been on the exclusion of Bengali Muslims and Hindus — two communities often suspected to be illegal migrants — an estimated 100,000 of some 2.5 million Gorkhas in Assam have not found their names in the updated draft. “Data collected from the districts …

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that any reservation extended in a hurry to the Maratha community will not stand up in court, while the BJP ally Shiv Sena stirred the quota pot further by asking the State government to extend reservation to Dhangars and Kolis as well. …

The RBI on Wednesday cited inflation concerns as it raised interest rates for the second time in as many months by 25 basis points, setting its benchmark repo rate at 6.5%. “Uncertainty around domestic inflation needs to be carefully monitored in the coming months,” the central bank said in its …

  Appearing before a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, for the Kerala government, submitted that pilgrims to Sabarimala cannot claim to be a separate or distinct sect or religious denomination. The customs of the temple were subject to Constitutional principles …

Facing pressure from Dalit leaders within the ruling alliance as well as from the Opposition, the Centre has decided to introduce a Bill to restore the original provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which the Supreme Court had struck down in a …

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018. It will designate some courts as commercial courts for speedy disposal of commercial disputes and will reduce the pecuniary jurisdiction of these courts from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. …

A GI product is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicraft and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory. Darjeeling Tea, Tirupati Laddu, Kangra Paintings, Nagpur Orange and Kashmir Pashmina are among the registered GIs in India. Mr. Prabhu said the initiative would help promote awareness and …

The European Association’s preliminary statement on reform proposals declines to pass summary judgment till the fundamental question of electorates is settled. The Association is not hostile to the principles of compartmental transfer of responsibility but considers that the Indian ministers are judgeable by the attitude towards the reserved rather than …

South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s four-day state visit to India early last month came at a time when Mr. Moon’s administration is seeking to upgrade India-South Korea relations. It was evident when Mr. Moon launched a foreign initiative called New Southern Policy last year that he had decided to step …

Talks between representatives of Syria’s Kurdish rebels and President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus bring a ray of hope to hundreds of thousands living in the country’s north and east. After the talks last week, leaders of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, …

The recent controversy about transparency in the working of the cadaver transplant programme in Tamil Nadu has provided an opportunity to revisit the vexed question of medical rationing in India. It is a hard reality that not all medical interventions are available to every citizen who may need it. The …

A relatively new anti-blasphemy party, whose leader has reportedly vowed to nuke the Netherlands should he ever come to power, did surprisingly well in Pakistan’s elections. Islamist fundamentalist parties fielded more than 1,500 candidates in Pakistan’s provincial and national elections that were won by Imran Khan. The performance of Tehreek-e-Labaik …

August 24 will mark the first anniversary of the unanimous affirmation of the right to privacy by a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court. The court imposed upon the government a clear obligation to make a law safeguarding a person’s informational privacy, commonly referred to as data protection. The right …

A Muslim woman from Uttar Pradesh’s Sikandrabad, who had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking abolition of ‘nikah halala’ practice earlier this month, on Tuesday alleged that she has received death threats from her husband. The woman, Farzana, had claimed in her petition that she had been illegally …

When asked ‘what ahead’, Mr. Hajela said time has been given till August 7 for people to ascertain their names in the NRC. From August 8, those excluded can approach the Local Registrar or the NRC Sewa Kendras to find out the reasons for their non-inclusion. Their claims and objections …

India has welcomed the decision of the U.S. government to grant it the status of a trading partner equivalent to its closest allies in the NATO. This decision is likely to boost India’s defence trade with the U.S. The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said it proved India’s …

Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi has been chosen for this year’s Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award for promoting communal harmony and peace. The award carries a citation and a cash award of Rs. 10 lakh. Sadbhavana Award has been given to Gopalkrishna Gandhi for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion …

The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it clear that it cannot direct doctors to perform genital mutilation of minor girls of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and questioned the “scientific justification”, if any, behind the procedure. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which was hearing a PIL plea …