—AP Envoys from nearly 90 nations signed on Friday the first new U.N. telecommunications treaty since the Internet age, but the U.S. and other Western nations refused to join after claiming it endorses greater government control over cyberspace. The head of the U.N. telecoms group pushed back against U.S. assertions, defending the accord as necessary to help expand online services to poorer nations and add more voices to shape the direction of...

-The Hindu The World Conference on International Telecommunication showed that countries are not yet ready to arrive at a consensus on regulation and control of the Internet The World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) that concluded on December 14 saw much heated debate. Some countries wanted to use the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to gain intergovernmental control of the World Wide Web. Some saw it as an opportunity to democratise the Internet,...

-Outlook Hyderabad: Union government is all set to provide loans to women self help groups (SHGs) at the rate of seven per cent from April 1 next year and at four per cent to the target group in 150 selected districts, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh announced here today. "Loans will be extended to Self Help Groups at 7 per cent from April 1 while in another 150 districts, selected...

-Outlook Agreeing that a section of the IT Act was being misused, the government today said it will soon issue an advisory to states to check the practice as members in Rajya Sabha voiced concern in the backdrop recent arrests over certain postings on social networking sites. "As per our assessment, Section 66A of IT Act is being misused at several places. This is happening in many states, it's not limited to...

-The Times of India Crest Cash transfers have been described as the world's favourite new anti-poverty device. As India gets set to implement it, TOI-Crest finds out if the politics will ever be divorced from the cash The UPA government's ambitious plan to introduce direct cash transfers (DCT) by January 1, 2013 reflects both the political desperation of a beleaguered government and the urgent need to reform India's inefficient and corrupt public...