-The Hindu For any law to truly liberate those trapped in manual scavenging, their numbers must first be established by a comprehensive survey Everybody declares with a full heart, and in a low voice, that it is a national shame. From Manmohan Singh and Pratibha Patil to Mukesh Ambani and Aamir Khan, the last mentioned a new convert to the Dalit cause, there is no dearth of people queuing up to take...

-The Hindu The question that must be asked, is whether India is willing to compromise on its laws and the safety and rights of its citizens to protect the business interests of reactor suppliers In 2010, under pressure from multinational nuclear suppliers, the Manmohan Singh government pushed through a law to protect them from the consequences of a nuclear accident. The law makes it impossible for victims to sue the supplier, even...

-The Indian Express A series of surrogate advertisements by the gutkha lobby against the ban on it in 14 states in quick succession is now threatening to erupt into a full-scale ad war. The Health Ministry is considering the option of issuing ads of its own to rebut the claims made by gutkha makers. Interestingly, the ministry does not appear to be keen on invoking the anti-tobacco law, which forbids advertising of...

-The Hindu The movement by India Against Corruption is a call to the system as a whole to redefine the polity and the economy The one significant question being thrown us by the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement is this: is the movement for or against the country’s much revered democracy? The answer, as often in questions relating to society or politics, is neither a clear yes nor no. It is anti-democratic...

-Outlook While some question my motives in seeking information on Rahul Gandhi's foreign trips, others say that parting with such information will jeopardize his security. Really?  I am really puzzled by some of the responses to my RTI regarding Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trips. One set of persons have echoed the arguments used by Congress spokespersons Manish Tiwari and Jayanti Natarajan questioning my motives for demanding information that “violates the privacy of Rahul Gandhi.”...