Rights Issues

Former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has, in a letter, raised serious objections to the rules governing the administration of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund. He has described them as a “blatant breach of assurances” given to Parliament. Here is a look at the key issues involved What is the Compensatory Afforestation …

The Indian government and WhatsApp appear to be at loggerheads over tracing the origin of fake messages. The messaging platform has said it will not comply with the government’s demand as the move will undermine the privacy of WhatsApp users. “People rely on WhatsApp for all kinds of sensitive conversations, …

Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal argued that SC/ST are a “homogeneous group and any action to regroup them based on economic or social advancement would not be apt”. Mr. Venugopal said rigorous modalities were prescribed for inclusion of communities in the list of SCs/STs. “For inclusion of communities in the list of …

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to take the views of political parties on the Centre’s standard operating procedure (SOP) and modalities for filing and disposal of claims/objections leading to the publication of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam. State NRC Co-ordinator Prateek Hajela informed a Bench …

According to a parliamentary standing committee report tabled in Parliament last month, the Centre wanted to reduce the areas under the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) in Assam but the State government did not concur. Over the past two years, the Union Home Ministry has proposed reducing the areas …

Time period for hearings on claims and objections likely to be extended The Centre is mulling relaxed guidelines for migrant workers and labourers from other States who were not included in the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam that was published on July 30. As …

Over 300 Army officers on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against what they called “persecution” by the court and civilian agencies, like the CBI, for doing their duty in the insurgency-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern States. The petition, filed by senior officers at the level of …

Distribution of claim and correctionforms begins Some 2,500 Nagarik Seva Kendras (NSKs) in Assam began issuing claim, objection and correction forms on Friday for people excluded from the complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on July 30. NRC officials could not specify how many forms were …