-PTI Jan Myrdal, son of the celebrated Nobel laureate couple--Gunnar and Alva Myrdal--is banned from visiting India because the government believes he is a Maoist supporter. The government of India is contemplating a ban on the future visits of 85-year-old Jan Myrdal, whose parents were close friends of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, for his alleged backing of pro-Maoist ideology. The home ministry has found that the Sweden-based author had attended...

Recent events in Parliament concerning a National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbook use of a Shankar cartoon of Babasaheb Ambedkar have correctly drawn outrage and public debate. General outrage has also been correctly expressed at the attack on Suhas Palshikar's office in Pune - apparently for his role as chief advisor of the offending textbook. In his statement, human resource development minister Kapil Sibal has chosen to limit...

Health activists from across the country have asked the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry to take immediate cognisance of the recent report of the Department Related Standing Committee that has criticised the functioning of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for irregular approvals for clinical trials and sale of medicines to pharmaceutical companies that put patients at risk. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the activists asked the...

At last, the real anxieties lurking behind what has come to be called the “Ambedkar cartoon” controversy are out in the open. It is hideously clear by now that MPs “uniting across parties” are acting as one only to protect themselves from public scrutiny, debate and criticism. It turns out, as some of us suspected all along, that the “sentiments” that have been “hurt” this time are the easily bruised...

The proposal made by a Supreme Court Bench to have guidelines for legal reporting is seen as a serious threat to the freedom of the media. Paradoxes are not new to India. But the current challenges to the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media are sure to confound a future historian looking for explanations. The country is fortunate to have the best of historical circumstances that are conducive...