Liberty of thought and expression is a cardinal value that is of paramount significance under India’s constitutional scheme. The preamble of the Constitution of India inter alia speaks of liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Article 19(1)(a) of part 3 on Fundamental Rights of the constitution provides right to freedom of speech and…
This statement was originally published on pen-international.org on 27 March 2015. By Evan Rankin and Amy Tang The Supreme Court of India’s landmark decision on Tuesday [24 March 2015] signals a move towards greater protection of free expression in the world’s largest democracy. But there is still much to do. India’s highest court struck down…
The government has sought a report from the Law Commission whether defamation should be decriminalized before responding to the Supreme Court which has asked it to file response in four weeks. The Law Commission has held a consultation on the subject and a report on its website said “respondents overwhelmingly expressed dissatisfaction with the present…
The Supreme Court recently made it mandatory for an aggrieved party to seek a court or government order and present it to the intermediary to take down objectionable or unlawful online content. The judgment watered down the provisions of Section 79(3)(b) of Information Technology Act. The intermediary in this case could be social networking sites…
The youth of the city believe that new, mature legislation is the need of the hour, and not irrational, politically-motivated censorship The country seems to have entered an era of censorship and bans, with everything from what to watch to what to eat being put under the scanner. A Campus round table conference saw youngsters…
The head of the United Nations agency mandated to defend press freedom denounced today the murder of Washiqur Rahman Babu, a Bangladesh-based blogger, and reiterated the call for local authorities to defend freedom of expression and public debate in the South Asian country. “It is important that the Bangladeshi authorities find and prosecute those responsible…
A new anti-terror bill passed by the gujarat state assembly falls far short of international human rights standers and must on receive the president’s assent to be passed into law, Amnesty International India said today. similar laws already in force in other states and notionally must be immediately repealed.
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On 10th April, 2015, Malaysia’s Parliament approved tougher penalties for sedition, in a move which was criticized by the United Nations and described by the Opposition as ‘a black day’ for democracy and freedom of expression. The amendments to the Sedition Act extended the maximum jail term for offences to 20 years from the current…
Lions Club of Imphal Greater (LCIG) on Saturday organized a voluntary blood donation cum health camp at Don Bosco College, Maram. The programme was organized with support from JNIMS Blood Bank, Red Ribbon Club and NSS Don Bosco, Maram. Over 400 patients have given treatment in different disease like ENT, Eye, Gen, Medicine, Surgery, Gynae…
The preparations for e-Health project, aimed to modernise the health sector in the state, is in the final stage and the pilot project will be launched in the Thiruvananthapuram district in June. The department has fixed tender to Hewlett Packard for developing a software exclusively for the project. The IT Department under the Union Ministry…