New Delhi, Febru Feb 21 (IANS) Actor-activist Shabana Azmi Thursday accused the government of "diluting the potency" of Justice Verma Committee report on sexual crimes by "cherry-picking" its recommendations.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) Thursday told the Supreme Court that if beliefs and faiths were allowed to weigh on the statutory and environmental clearances for big ticket projects, then there would be no development.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday set up a six-member team to scan the transcripts of former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's telephone intercepts to determine if there was any conversation that violated the law and warranted prosecution and asked it to submit its report in four months.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee said Thursday that the government is set to introduce the judicial standards and accountability bill during the budget session of parliament.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday said the government, deeply concerned about incidents of sexual offences against women, promulgated an ordinance amending criminal law to provide stringent punishment for sexual offences.

Moscow, Feb 21 (IANS) Russia is worried about the fate of an adopted Russian child in the US to whom Russian consulate workers are being denied an access, a high-ranking diplomat said Wednesday.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The central government Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it would not blink and grant permission to Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) to mine Niyamgiri hills to source bauxite for the Vedanta Aluminium refinery.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking direction for all the district courts regarding the procedure to be adopted and records relied upon while determining the juvenility of an accused.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) In a bid to empower the physically challenged with computer education and heighten their employment prospects, Microsoft India Wednesday showcased several IT tools that promise to help the handicapped take to computers.

Guwahati, Feb 20 (IANS) Two Assam-based NGOs have approached the Gauhati High Court seeking details of the "disappearance" of a woman rights activist, about whom police claimed that she has joined banned militant outfit ULFA.

Chennai, Feb 20 (IANS) DMK chief M. Karunanidhi Wednesday said the world or the United Nations need not go anywhere in search of evidence to "prove Sinhalese chauvinism and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa a war criminal".

Kolkata, Feb 20 (IANS) Accusing the West Bengal government of "maliciously" using Calcutta High Court's name to declare the two-day strike as illegal, trade unions Wednesday said they will seek legal action against it.

Chennai, Feb 20 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday called for the trial of Sri Lankan "war criminals" following fresh evidence that the 12-year-old son of slain Tamil Tigers supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in cold blood after being captured.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to the finance and home ministries on a plea to recover tax from social networking websites, arising out of their internet-based business in the country.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The National Human Rights Commission has sought from Chandigarh a report over the alleged malfunctioning of emergency wards in three government hospitals, a statement said Wednesday.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The Ministry of Water Resources has notified the final award of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in an official gazette in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court, a ministry release said Wednesday.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) There is an urgent need to amend the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to protect Dalits and tribals, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Kumari Selja said here Wednesday.

Agartala, Feb 20 (IANS) Hundreds of people Wednesday gathered at an India-Bangladesh checkpost in Tripura to show solidarity with protestors in Dhaka who are demanding death penalty for those convicted of war crimes.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to the Delhi government on a plea seeking special courts to try sexual offences committed against children.

Chennai, Feb 20 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday termed the gazette notification of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's (CWDT) final award as the culmination of 22 years of struggle and a "great victory for me and my government".

Chennai, Feb 20 (IANS) Comparing the Sri Lankan regime with Hilter's, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday demanded that those who committed "war crimes" in the island nation be tried in an international court.

Geneva, Feb 20 (IANS) Human Rights Watch Wednesday urged the UN Human Rights Council to launch "an independent, international investigation into war crimes" committed in the final months of the Sri Lankan conflict.

Washington, Feb 20 (IANS) Several community organisations, including a South Asian coalition, have launched a signature drive to press lawmakers to ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to track hate crimes against Sikh, Hindu, and Arab Americans.

Chennai, Feb 20 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday described as "a war crime" the alleged cold-blooded killing of the son of the late Tamil Tigers' chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday extended the stay of the execution of four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, saying it would await the verdict by another bench of the court on the larger question of inordinate delay in deciding their mercy petitions.

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) A Delhi court Friday extended till March 5 the judicial custody of a man arrested for attempting to rape a girl and shoving an iron rod into her mouth.

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) The Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR and investigate the prosecution-accused nexus in the trial of 2G case.

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) A Delhi court Tuesday granted two weeks' more time to the CBI to submit documents relating to the resolution passed by three telecom firms for seeking additional spectrum during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime.

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday pulled up the chief secretaries of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh for being indifferent to the plight of the missing children and choosing to ignore the orders of the court.

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) The hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was an "abomination" and a "barbaric" violation of human rights, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Satyabrata Pal said here Tuesday.

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday issued notice to the central government on two Italian marines' plea to be allowed to travel back home to vote in the ongoing elections in Italy and be with their families.

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) Calling the government's draft of the national food security bill an eyewash, social activists Tuesday here said the present bill restricts people's entitlements and is devoid of any accountability.

Jowai (Meghalaya), Feb 19 (IANS) India has urged Bangladesh to take "concrete steps" to prevent its citizens from crossing across illegally into India, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Tuesday.

Kolkata, Feb 19 (IANS) A fast-track court Tuesday framed charges of gang-rape and criminal conspiracy against three people arrested in the politically controversial Park Street rape case, in which an Anglo-Indian woman was allegedly raped in 2012.

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday issued notice to the centre on a petition by two Italian marines seeking the court's nod to travel back to their country to exercise their franchise in the ongoing elections in Italy.

Washington, Feb 19 (IANS) As President Barack Obama's leaked plan to put America's 11 million illegal immigrants, including some 250,000 Indians, on a path to citizenship, generated a storm, White House insisted it was just a "backup plan."

New York, Feb 19 (IANS) The US federal district court of Wisconsin will hold an evidentiary hearing Thursday in a case of human rights violation filed against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal by a Sikh rights' organisation.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) A Delhi court Monday posted for March 7 the hearing on arguments on whether to summon Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in a defamation case filed against him for his remarks linking the BJP and the RSS to terrorism.

Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS) Stating that 9 percent more rapes occurred in Delhi over Kolkata, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Monday said the fact should not make the people in the West Bengal capital become complacent.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Women activists and students will hold a protest in the national capital Thursday against the government's ordinance amending anti-rape laws, saying it is not in favour of women.

Male, Feb 18 (IANS) A Maldivian court Monday issued a second arrest warrant for former president Mohamed Nasheed, who has been staying in the Indian High Commission since Feb 13.

Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court Monday vacated the interim stay on the winding up order of tyre manufacturer Dunlop India and asked the official liquidator to take possession of the company's assets.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Tuesday will pronounce its verdict on a petition challenging two government notifications empowering unaided private schools to formulate their own criteria on nursery admission.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) The proposed amendments to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA) being considered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development would further deteriorate the condition of sex workers as these could be used to harass them, activists said Monday.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) A rights panel Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to abolish death penalty and spare sandalwood smuggler Veerappan's four aides, facing execution after their mercy pleas were rejected by the president.

Panaji, Feb 18 (IANS) The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has issued notice to the authorities of Goa's central jail after a former convict accused them of misappropriating money meant to be deposited in the compensation fund for the victims' families.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Holding the conduct of suspended Kirori Mal College (KMC) principal "contrary to maintenance of discipline in an educational institutions", the Delhi High Court has dismissed his plea to revoke his suspension.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said parliament would urgently pass the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill to cope with violence and sexual offences against women, which he described as a matter of shame for the country.

Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court Monday directed the CBI to probe the rape and murder of a mentally deranged woman whose body was earlier exhumed from inside a mental asylum in West Bengal's Hooghly district.

New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said parliament would pass the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2012 to cope with increasing violence and sexual offences against women.