-The Economic Times The group said the threat posed by digital platforms to the integrity of the upcoming elections has assumed “alarming proportions”. A group of Rights organisations and citizens — including Internet Freedom Foundation, Common Cause and former chief election commissioners N Gopalaswami and SY Quraishi — have “made an urgent appeal” to the Election Commission to rein in digital platforms to ensure integrity of the general elections. The group, which also...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Congress talks about safeguarding privacy, Trinamool warns of the misuse of surveillance and CPM proposes limiting the influence of technology behemoths. Leading political parties have woken up to the issue of digital Rights in their poll manifestos, a move that has been welcomed by civil society and activists. The Congress manifesto promises to safeguard privacy and personal data by passing laws. It also lays down ambitious...

-Newsclick.in In the recently held 2018 Assembly elections, out of 48 tribal dominated seats BJP only won 16 while in 2013, the party had 34. Bhopal / Burhanpur: Demanding to uphold the Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA) and withdrawal of the proposed amendment in Indian Forests Act 1927 by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, thousands of tribals carried out an ‘Adivasi Adhikar Chetavni rally’ in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur district...

-IndiaWaterPortal.org Multilayered governance and involvement of forest dwellers in the decision making processes can go a long way in managing our forests better. The recent news on the forced eviction of more than 1,000,000 tribal and other forest-dwelling households from 16 states by a Supreme Court order has again brought the long-debated issue of the role of the state and the community in forest governance to the forefront. The order comes...

-The Telegraph Call to govt to adopt 'cost-based' control The 30 per cent cap on profit margins imposed by India’s drug pricing authority on 42 anti-cancer drugs will have a limited impact on patients’ expenses because many of these medicines’ prices remain “prohibitive”, a network of patients’ Rights groups said on Saturday. The All India Drug Action Network (Aidan) said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority’s cap on profit margins in effect “legitimises” the...