-PTI CBI has approached the Delhi high court claiming protection from disclosure of information held by it on allegations of corruption under the Right to Information Act. The CBI's move to approach the Delhi high court came on a Central Information Commission decision allowing RTI plea of activist CJ Karira who had sought information related to status of sanction for prosecution against public servants facing allegations of corruption during 2007-11. Ironically, the information...

-The Hindu The talks held by the government with the representatives of 11 Central trade unions here on Monday night to urge the unions to withdraw the February 20, 21 nation-wide strike call has failed and the unions have announced that the protest will be held as scheduled. INTUC president G. Sanjeeva Reddy, who participated in the talks, told The Hindu that the government representatives — Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Agriculture Minister...

-Economic and Political Weekly The proposed legislation on the National Food Security Act has been steadily watered down since it was fi rst mooted in 2009. The Parliamentary Standing Committee that examined the 2011 Bill has disappointingly continued with "targeting". If the government passes the bill incorporating the committee's suggestions, a historic opportunity to combat hunger and malnutrition would be lost. Ankita Aggarwal (aggarwal.ankita87@gmail.com) is a Research Scholar at the Centre for...

-Counter Currents The Aadhaar scheme of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is to provide India's billion-plus people with a unique identification number. Enrolling into the scheme was and still is not mandatory, though it was mentioned that it would be difficult for people to access public services in the absence of enrolment. The scheme requires individuals to provide their photograph, fingerprints and iris scan together with documentary personal information,...

-The Business Standard Rich coal reserves found in Dharamjaigarh in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district have thrown the lives of the 15,000 Bangladeshi settlers in turmoil Kalipada Das was 12 years old when his parents slipped into India from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) after Partition in the early fifties. As violence rocked parts of Bangladesh, Das and his parents sailed across Khulna River to reach a railway station from where they hoped to board...