In what may change the way banks and cellphone companies as well as official agencies collect and process information about individuals, the government is proposing legislation that will empower citizens with sweeping rights to legal recourse against any misuse of personal data. The first draft of the proposed legislation has been released for public debate by the department of personnel and training (DoPT). The main aim of the umbrella legislation will be...

Reiterating her stand on the Rajarhat land issue, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday asked the Left Front government to put on hold all land acquisition in the new township till the Land Acquisition Act 1894 is amended. She said, she has communicated her view to the government about the changes in the current Act. “The state government should stop all its efforts of acquiring land. Their days...

Rahul Gandhi, the general secretary of India’s Congress party, often says that there exist “two Indias” — one of the rich, and one of the poor. Those two Indias were in evidence a couple of weeks ago, when closely timed events on opposite sides of the planet brought into relief the deep divides that in many ways define this country. In Mumbai on Nov. 7, President Barack Obama told a group of...

Frequent and unrelenting protests against land acquisition seem to have compelled political parties to take the issue seriously. The Centre has promised to introduce a redrafted land acquisition Bill during the winter session of Parliament. As per official pronouncements, the Bill will provide for higher compensation to the affected parties. Besides, acquisition for private companies will be restricted to less than 30% of the total land required for the project. However,...

Indicating the official auditor CAG be permitted to look into the books of public-private partnership (PPP) projects, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today underscored the need to ensure transparency in these infrastructure schemes. "CAG will play a leading role in ensuring that these new initiatives (PPP) deliver as intended," the Prime Minister said at a function to mark the 150 years of Comptroller and Auditor General of India. "There is a need to...