-The Indian Express RTI Act needs to be protected against attempts to dilute it. RTI activists must be made less vulnerable In April, the government of India proposed amendments to the RTI Act, one of the most empowering pieces of legislation inherited from the UPA era. The most controversial amendment pertained to Rule 12. It would allow the withdrawal of an application in case of the applicant’s death, making the job of...

-The Indian Express Demonetisation: On digital transactions, too, RBI data shows that the volume of electronic payments, after peaking in December 2016 at 957.50 million transactions compared with 671.49 million in November, has been on a decline. New Delhi: When it launched the currency withdrawal in November, the NDA government had outlined four key objectives of the demonetisation exercise: detection of black money, elimination of fake currency, squeezing funds available for...

-The Hindu Business Line Strengthening of global demand will support domestic economy: RBI Kolkata: The Reserve Bank of India, in its Annual Report 2016-17, has said strengthening external demand will help support the economy, even while favourable domestic conditions are expected to quicken the pace of overall economic activity during the year. Global growth is gaining traction in 2017-18, with the recovery driven primarily by a cyclical upturn in investment, manufacturing and trade,...

-Livemint.com State’s response to organised violence in India often hinges on a political cost-benefit analysis Days before the verdict in rape case against Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, his supporters started gathering in Panchkula. A lot of violence could have been prevented by not letting them come there. Why did the government allow this? The Dera is hardly a benign spiritual organisation. It holds significant political clout and openly declares support...

-The Times of India BENGALURU: Contrary to the Centre's claims, contracts signed with foreign firms by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), custodian of Aadhaar data, show that they got "full access" to classified data including fingerprints, iris scan info, and personal information like date of birth, address and Mobile number of the applicants. They were also allowed to store the data for seven years. This was revealed through an RTI...