-Outlook The structural basis is being laid out for future authoritarianism at the behest of foreign biometric and surveillance technology What distinguishes Barack Obama and David Cameron from Narendra Modi? Obama and Cameron oppose biometric identification but Modi supports it. On 11 May 2005 in the US, the Real ID Act for a national ID was rushed through US Congress and the US Senate with utmost urgency, a legacy of George Bush...

-Kafila.org The last few months have seen an unusual public engagement around questions of secularism, freedom of speech, sedition and the like, with furious debates everywhere from our campuses, streets and TV studios to the floor of Parliament. The budget session has been enlivened by scenes of high drama, with the leading lights of the Treasury benches bringing colour, sound and fury to their tutorials on patriotism and nationalism. While these high-decibel...

-Press Release from Delhi Pension Parishad Activists from seven major campaigns stated unequivocally that the Union Budget for 2016-17 far from ‘Transforming India’, as claimed by the Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley, is neglecting the interests of farmers, the poor and vulnerable both in nominal and real terms and subjecting every life-affirming program to severe  budget cuts. Activists from seven major campaigns such as the Right to Food Campaign , the...

-AP New Delhi: Doctors Without Borders has challenged Pfizer’s application for an Indian patent for its pneumonia vaccine so cheaper versions can be available to children in poor countries and to humanitarian organisations. The medical aid group, also known as Medicins Sans Frontieres, said in a statement late on Friday that it was challenging Pfizer’s patent application to allow Indian manufacturers to make affordable versions of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. If Pfizer is...

-The Hindu Campaign is part of government’s endeavour to reduce LPG subsidy bill More than 80 lakh households have given up LPG subsidy under the ‘Give it Up’ scheme, as of March 3, 2016, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.The ‘Give it Up’ campaign is part of the government’s endeavour to reduce its LPG subsidy bill. Under the scheme, LPG users who can afford to pay the market rate for the fuel are encouraged...