Why is the world's biggest democracy cracking down on Facebook and Google? "65 years since your independence," a new battle for freedom is under way in India -- according to a YouTube video uploaded by an Indian member of Anonymous, the global "hacktivist" movement. With popular websites like Vimeo.com blocked across India by court order, the video calls for action: "Fight for your rights. Fight for India." Over the past several...

If you were a tad worried about the government`s intentions to censor free speech by controlling the internet and monitoring your access to the Web through a vague and draconian legal framework - `IT Rules, 2011`, followed by an attempt to pre-screen content on Google and Facebook - you haven`t seen anything yet. In mid-2011, the success of the internet and social media in bringing down dictatorships in Egypt and Libya...

The ASCI report says there is ample evidence of “market dominance” in specific media markets, but the government has ignored the report for three years. A ministry official tells PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA that it is unlikely to be implemented. A report prepared by an independent institution recommending imposition of cross-media ownership restrictions recently entered the public domain nearly three years after it was submitted,  following a rebuke to the government by...

-PTI   The Haryana State Information Commission has directed the state's school board to make available on its website the "answer key" to questions for exams taken by it in future.    Disposing of an RTI appeal of a Bahadurgarh resident seeking the answer key to questions of the Haryana Teacher Eligibility Test in which he appeared in November 2011, State Information Commissioner Urvashi Gulati said provision of the answer key would avoid unnecessary...

Revised draft water policy allows for subsidy to the poor and in non-commercial farming Public outcry against indiscriminate pricing of water and privatisation of water delivery services has forced the Centre to back off on both counts in its revised draft of the new national water policy, a copy of which is available with The Hindu . The revised draft, that incorporates suggestions from the public as well as state governments, allows...