I have not read the Private Member's Bill on media regulation that Meenakshi Natarajan was scheduled to move in Parliament last week so I am not in a position to comment upon it, but I am certainly of the opinion that the media (both print and electronic) needs to be regulated. Since my ideas on this issue have generated some controversy they need to be clarified. I want regulation of the...

The Supreme Court has taken steps to lay down a code for media reporting. This attempt at prior restraint on the media is a dangerous move with precedent from authoritarian polities. In a context where the judiciary has been lax in defending the media from attacks which seek to curb its freedom, such unilateral moves will not remedy bad reporting but rather make conditions worse for the media to play...

The private member’s Bill that Rahul Gandhi’s close aide and Congress MP Meenakshi Natarajan was scheduled to introduce in Parliament last week lays down a draconian set of rules clearly aimed to gag and threaten the media in the name of “protecting national interest”. Called the Print and Electronic Media Standards and Regulation Bill, 2012, it provides for a media regulatory authority — part selected by the I&B minister and three...

Action plan proposed to improve rural connectivity for fighting extremism Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said development and security were integral to each other, like strands in a single fabric. He was speaking in the context of the proposed Sarju Area Development Action Plan (SADAP), which is similar to the Saranda Action Plan (SAP) that was started six months ago in the Chibasa district of Jharkhand to combat the extremist...

-The Telegraph Meghalaya chief minister today called for a legislation that would protect students from the Northeast from “insensitive behaviour”, almost a week after his niece, Dana Sangma, killed herself in a Delhi hostel after being allegedly ill-treated by an invigilator. Speaking to reporters at the Delhi Press Club today, Sangma asserted that Dana was targeted only because of her background. The 21-year-old, writing her second semester MBA examination at Amity Business School...