-TheWire.in It is important to look at the issue not just through the binary of whether one is for it or against it. The Delhi government’s decision to make public transport free for women has been hotly since it was announced on Monday, with many people taking a strong position on either side. I think it useful to view the many dimensions of the issue, instead of seeing it as a binary...

-Hindustan Times It is also important to remember that both these laws were the product of sustained, grassroots-level social movements. Consequently, perhaps the surest remedy against possible future dilution may lie not in judicial challenges (although that remains important), but in popular mobilisation. With the 2019 general election yielding a decisive mandate for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), attention will soon turn to the new government’s legislative agenda. As the government is...

-The Times of India Panaji (Goa): Citizens will no longer have to shell out Rs 51 per page when seeking documents under Right To Information (RTI) Act pertaining to the revenue department. An order passed by the appellate authority and additional collector Dasharath Redkar in an appeal has ended the controversy surrounding the issue of charging exorbitant fees for documents sought under the RTI Act. Redkar has directed the public information officer...

-IndiaSpend.com Bengaluru: Indian voters do not vote on the basis of  development or policies, according to a recent study, confirming the results of the 2019 general elections. Despite a raft of economic woes afflicting the country, ranging from joblessness to farm distress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has swept to power in India, winning 56% of seats. The study, ‘Do Citizens Enforce Accountability For Public Goods Provision?’, by Oxford University scholar Tanushree Goyal...

-The Economic Times At a little over 14%, India has the third-largest Muslim population in the world. Are Indian Muslims confronting the void? Political parties are no longer engaging with Muslims like they used to. This process of withdrawal and fracturing began with the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and carries on in 2019. Globally, the pathologisation of Muslims began after 9/11, which entrenched Islamophobia, and moved the discourse around minorities entirely towards terror,...