FOREIGN AID: 2,742 NGOs lose FCRA clearance in 3 years

Government of India has canceled or suspended the eligibility of thousands of non-government organizations to receive foreign aid in recent years, according to data from the ministry of home affairs, Government of India. The biggest cull came in 2019, when it removed 2,171 NGOs from the list of organizations eligible to receive funds from abroad. […]

LOCKDOWN: Inquiry ordered against IPS officer for ‘demeaning’ punishment

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said the state government will not condone any behavior by police officers that crosses the line of acceptable and civil behavior, after a video of an IPS officer administering a ‘traditional punishment’ came up. The traditional punishment, known as ‘ethamidal’ in Malayalam, used to be quite popular during feudal era […]

Govt may amend law to deny mercy petitions to POCSO convicts

The government of India may soon bring amend the law to deny the possibility of a presidential pardon to those sentenced to death under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences or POCSO Act. Speaking at an event organized by the spiritual outfit Brahma Kumaris in Hyderabad, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind said that opinion […]

EU MPs visited Kashmir to study terror impact- Govt

A group of 27 member of European Union Parliament were allowed to visit Kashmir during the lockdown as they wanted to ‘get a sense’ of the impact of terrorism on people’s lives in Kashmir, the central government informed the Lok Sabha today. At the same time, said the Home Ministry, Indian MPs were prevented from […]

Bhopal Disaster: NGOs allege cover-up by Govt

Four organizations campaigning for justice on the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal accused the central and the state governments of suppressing a study that could have been used by the victims to bolster their case in courts. In a press conference, the organizations said they were able to obtain a copy of a study conducted […]

Supreme Court seeks details of encounter killings in UP

The Supreme Court has asked the state of Uttar Pradesh to furnish details of the encounter killings that are taking place in the state. In a public interest litigation filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties or PUCL, the court directed counsel Aishwarya Bhati to file details of the encounters taking place. Among the […]

Chief Justice refuses urgent relief on SC/ST Atrocities judgment

Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra refused to hear a petition filed by a Dalit activists’ organization seeking urgent relief from the a recent judgment by another bench that imposed restrictions on the powers of the police in cases filed under the SC ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. “If you have filed a petition, it […]

Rahul Gandhi, Marry a Dalit girl – Ramdas Athawale

Taking a jibe at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s ‘increasing love for Dalits’, Dalit leader Ramdas Athawale said the chronic bachelor and heir to the Congress Party should now get married to a Dalit girl. Speaking at a function in Akola in Maharashtra, Athawale said Gandhiji wanted to erase the scourge of caste from India […]

Did the army really use a Kashmiri as ‘human shield’ as Omar Abdullah claims?

Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah created a flutter when he tweeted the photograph of a person forced to sit on the spare tyre of an army jeep, claiming that the Indian army was using him as a ‘human shield’ to protect itself from stone pelters. However, a subsequent video of the […]

Police Custody Deaths: Bihar safest, Maharashtra most dangerous

A total of 308 people died in police custody in the three years from 2013 to 2015 — including 75 in Maharashtra — but not a single policeman was convicted in any case related to custody deaths in the country during those years, data from the home ministry showed. On an overall level, Maharashtra led in […]

Half of rural population classified as poor in Socio-Economic Caste Census

Half of India’s rural population have been classified as poor by the Socio-Economic Caste Census of India 2011, the government said today. The findings of Socio-Economic Caste Census of India, which was conducted after vociferous demands by some political parties, has never been released to the public in full. However, according to data obtained from […]

Jignesh Mevani takes to the Internet to raise cash for Dalit protests

Jignesh Mevani, the young lawyer spearheading the protests against atrocities against Dalits, has launched a campaign to raise Rs 13 lakhs via crowdfunding platform BigGiving. This marks the first time a socio-political movement is trying to use the Internet to generate funds after the stunning success of a similar effort by Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi […]