During budget presentations, budget documents, which are provided, carry updated data and information related to various departments and ministries of the Central Government such as on revenues, expenditures, deficits etc. Recently economists like Dr. Rathin Roy and Prof. Jayati Ghosh have expressed concerns about the Ministry of Finance for not uploading updated and appropriate budgetary data and figures on the website www.indiabudget.gov.in following the 2019-20 Union Budget presentation by the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has initiated the process of installing an automated facial recognition system (AFRS) that will help identify persons by matching digital images, photos and video feeds with an existing database, in a move that raises concerns over privacy. According to the request for proposal (RFP) document seeking open bids for an AFRS solution, the benefits include a robust system for identifying...

-The Indian Express Yet again, DNA Regulation Bill cleared for introduction in Parliament. Whose DNA will be stored, when is it supposed to be used for reference? What are the concerns, how is government addressing these? On Monday, the Cabinet cleared the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill once again, paving the way for its reintroduction in Parliament. The Bill had been passed by Lok Sabha in January this year,...

-Frontline.in An RTI-based public interest petition in the Bombay High Court points out that 20 lakh EVMs that the manufacturers affirm to have delivered are “missing” from the possession of the Election Commission. Issues relating to the “vulnerability” and “unreliability” of electronic voting machines (EVMs) have come up regularly in the context of the 2019 general election. Complaints filed by opposition parties on specific instances of malfunctioning of EVMs as well as...

-The Hindu Slowdown has widened across sectors; the new government must hit the ground running A welter of data collectively and individually point to one worrying conclusion: economic momentum across sectors is slowing in the widening absence of that key ingredient, demand. Domestic sales of cars, commercial vehicles and two wheelers all contracted in April, from a year earlier, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has reported. The decline of almost...