-The Indian Express There are certain issues, however, which need be addressed, to make sure that the information commission becomes fully autonomous and thus becomes a constitutional body. Celebrations for 10 years of democratic transparency, in the form of the Right to Information Act, are going on. What we have achieved as yet and what is still someway to go needs to be found out. The many scams, which have successfully helped...
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It’s 'sushasan' vs. development -Vikas Pathak
-The Hindu In Bihar, ‘development’ comes laced with caste. For the upper castes, it is Modi’s pitch on investment that matters while for Backward Classes, Nitish’s social welfare agenda makes him a governance icon. The BJP, having no regional match for Nitish, has banked on Modi’s popularity. “Development” is a word that one encounters frequently across poll-bound Bihar, with people across caste lines using it to explain their political preferences. However, this...
More »Preethi Herman, who heads the largest online social change portal in the country, speaks to Nikita Lamba
-Tehelka As change.org starts its Hindi version, Preethi Herman, who heads the largest online social change portal in the country, speaks to Nikita Lamba about how ordinary people are being empowered to bring about the changes they want to see. * What drove you to start this venture in Hindi considering that the netizens of today’s world use English for communication? The lingua franca of about 47 percent of India’s internet population is...
More »Fighting silence with dignified dissent -Shiv Visvanathan
-The Hindu In returning their awards, Nayantara Sahgal and Ashok Vajpeyi have reminded Modi of two duties he has neglected — that of upholding a citizen's right to life and of protecting an artist’s right to creativity. Their angst is also directed at the silence of fellow writers and literary institutions.A writer not only seeks to reform a particular injustice in society. She is a tuning fork, a warning signal about...
More »SC agrees to Rs 1,300 tax on polluting trucks -Dhananjay Mahapatra
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a bid to reduce the capital's high air pollution levels, the Supreme Court on Friday said it would order levying of a pollution tax of Rs 1,300 on heavy trucks and Rs 700 on light commercial vehicles to deter the smoke-spewing vehicles from entering the city. The court said it would pronounce the order on Monday and review the pollution situation in four months. The...
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