The Supreme Court has taken steps to lay down a code for media reporting. This attempt at prior restraint on the media is a dangerous move with precedent from authoritarian polities. In a context where the judiciary has been lax in defending the media from attacks which seek to curb its freedom, such unilateral moves will not remedy bad reporting but rather make conditions worse for the media to play...

-The Telegraph From July 1, TV viewers in the four metros will for the first time have a choice over which channels to watch and not have it decided for them by multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators. Also, they will have to pay only for channels they have chosen. The rest of India will have this choice by December 2014 when the digital transmission of cable TV signals becomes mandatory...

-The United Nations The global employment situation is alarming, says a new United Nations report released today, which also warns that recovery is not expected any time soon. The World of Work Report 2012: Better Jobs for a Better Economy – published by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) – says that around 50 million jobs are still missing compared to the situation that existed before the global economic crisis. It also warns...

The government has removed from a proposed bill a clause that would have made builders liable to be jailed for making false promises about houses to customers, housing ministry sources have said. The initial draft of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, which is awaiting cabinet clearance, provided for a jail term of up to three years as well as a compensation of up to 10 per cent of the...

-PTI The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is probing several complaints of misuse of personal data and duplication of cards while issuing 'Aadhaar' numbers to individuals. "UIDAI has received six complaints regarding errors or complaints regarding use of address documents. Four were received on UIDAI helpline on May 7, 13, 23, 2011 and March 9, 2012 and two by emails on February 27, 2012 and August 10, 2011. The complaints were...