-The Hindustan Times Government officials riding high on hopes that privacy concerns could blunt the right to information are in for disappointment. An expert panel set up to build a framework for a privacy regulation in India has brushed aside suggestions that the information law was trampling upon privacy of public servants or individuals in public life. The Justice (retd) Ajit Prakash Shah panel has told the government that privacy was only...

-The Indian Express But in this year of the scam, the political class must refrain from lashing out at the messenger To shoot the messenger while simultaneously shooting yourself in the foot is a feat of marksmanship that politicians are performing with agility. The achievement is being recorded by the pitiless gaze of the camera — which is also the cause of all the excitement. Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh...

-The Indian Express The fact that the urgently needed land acquisition bill is up for debate again within the UPA is symptomatic of why this government stumbles on its economic agenda more often than not. Even as Aadhaar spread of glow of success across the government, doubts have surfaced about the present shape of the land acquisition bill. The Union cabinet had recently the cleared the bill, which says that an...

-The Indian Express The privatisation of power sector in Delhi has been very successful and it has resulted in saving of around Rs 30,000 crore by the city government in last ten years, a report has said. The report by SBI Cap Securities on the power sector came amid an outcry over hike in power tariff in the city by nearly 50 per cent in the last one year. The report, which examined...

-The Times of India Congress leadership has vetoed the dilution of land acquisition bill, saying that 80% landowners have to agree to let the government acquire their land for private projects. The bottomline has been laid down by UPA chief Sonia Gandhi barely two days after a ministerial panel headed by Sharad Pawar finalized the draft bill, which says that consent of 67% landowners would suffice for government to acquire land. The leadership...