-Newsclick.in The amendments contradict the federal nature of the Act, and end up violating the PM’s principle of cooperative federalism. Information is the Currency that every citizen requires to participate in the life and governance of society —AP Shah, former Chief Justice, Delhi and Madras High Courts, 2010. It is not just Shah but many justices of the High Courts and the Supreme Court, who have repeatedly stressed that the right to information is...

-The Telegraph The BJP has been cornering the lion’s share of all money going to political parties New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday called for a debate on state funding of elections, underscoring the urgency by drawing attention to how one party has had access to 90 per cent of the money going to political parties. Singh flagged the issue while addressing a meeting to mark the birth centenary year...

-The Hindu The draft’s endorsement of critical thinking would have gained credibility if it had promoted liberal values A few months ago, a school principal told me about her conversation in the morning assembly with children of the middle (Grades VI-VIII) section. She had asked them for suggestions to turn the school into heaven. Some children suggested a garden, with trees, grass, and flowers blossoming all year round. Others pointed out that...

-TheWire.in While Nirmala Sitharaman's maiden budget hit all the right political notes, its fiscal math is far fuzzier. The first budget of the Narendra Modi government 2.0 is very high on political rhetoric around empowering the poorest in ‘New India’, but does not have a clear road map of how a fully-funded welfare state will be sustained without a robust revival in growth, based on the twin engines of investment and consumption...

-Livemint.com Note ban was the biggest move by the Narendra Modi-led govt, but it was also its most underwhelming initiative, judged by the economic impact it had MUMBAI/ NEW DELHI: Mumbai: Of all the initiatives of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, none was as historic or dramatic as the decision to demonetize high-value Currency notes. On 8 November 2016, in a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared...