-The Economic Times   Taking on the government, civil rights activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday went on a day-long fast at Rajghat, declaring that his agitation against corruption was the "second Freedom struggle" and threatened another hunger strike from August 16 if Lokpal Bill is not passed by then. He accused the government of putting "hurdles" in the drafting of Lokpal Bill and trying to defame the civil society members of the...

If access to information is the first step towards empowerment, then it is important to make Internet accessibility a human right because a lot of useful information, particularly relating to government schemes, is either unpublished or inaccessible by other means for most citizens The government’s approach towards universal Internet access is marred by dichotomy. While the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, calls Internet one of the most effective means of...

-IBN   Anna Hazare and his supporters on Wednesday challenged the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government to conduct a referendum to find out what form of the Lokpal Bill the citizens of the country were in favour of. "Let there be a referendum in the country on the Lokpal Bill prepared by the Government and the Jan Lokpal Bill prepared by the civil society. Let the one that has maximum support of people...

There is a photograph of the Second Round Table Conference in London, which shows every person in the room looking at the camera except for Mohandas K Gandhi. The maharajas, the leaders of the Depressed Classes and the Muslim League, the officers of His Majesty’s Government — all have their face turned at the photographer come to capture them. Not Gandhi, who sits in his chair, wrapped in a shawl,...

-The United Nations   An independent United Nations expert on Freedom of expression today warned that governments are increasingly restricting the flow of information on the Internet due to its potential to mobilize people to challenge the status quo. Frank La Rue, a Special Rapporteur on Freedom of expression, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today: “Governments are using increasingly sophisticated technologies to block content, and to monitor and identify...