Bangalore-based lawyer Sajan Poovayya is an outside counsel to Google Inc. and other Internet companies who have been sued in India for content on their Web sites that users or authorities deem objectionable. Having been through many such cases, he’s in a good position to assess how a new set of controversial Indian Internet regulations affect the landscape. His verdict: the rules are sloppy, vague, perhaps unconstitutional, and wind up exposing...

Existing norms to be continued, according to government order The scheme of free distribution of 20 kg rice to beneficiaries under the public distribution system (PDS) will come into force on June 1. At present, rice is given at Re. 1 a kg to those who are entitled to receive the commodity. As per the existing norms, rice of four kg per adult and two kg per child is supplied subject to...

-The Business Standard   The Supreme Court today asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in six districts of Orissa. The apex court has directed the Central investigative agency to submit its report within six months. The CBI has been asked to check if the operational guidelines of the Central scheme were duly complied...

Endosulfan, the pesticide which is widely believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths, diseases and devastation, was able to save its own life largely because of India’s questionable efforts at global forums. The controversial pesticide has been in news for a long time because of its harmful effects on humans, wild life and the environment. Obviously the $100 million industry is going out of the way to defend the...

As the joint drafting committee begins work on the Lokpal Bill, its civil society members face challenges from various quarters. AS the leader of the five-member civil society group within the 10-member joint drafting committee to prepare the new Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare finds himself in an unenviable position. After his successful agitation for equal participation for civil society in the legislative exercise to create the first Lokpal at the Centre,...