The contentious revised Sports Development Bill has got a fresh thrust with the Aruna Roy-led civil society group, the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI), throwing its weight behind the move to bring about transparency and accountability in the running of sports in the country. The NCPRI statement signed by Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan along with others like Ms. Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shekhar Singh and Anjali Bharadwaj has...

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday charged the United Progressive Alliance government with attempting to “tinker with” the parliamentary system to suit the United States and its companies by “diluting” the rules of the Nuclear Liability Act. Referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the rules framed for the Act would sit in Parliament for 30 days, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha leader Sitaram Yechury said so far the Committee...

Recent events in south Asia have led to an unexpected reversal in the narrative of microfinance, long presented as a development success. Despite charges of poor treatment of clients, exaggeration of the impact on the poorest as well as the risks of credit bubbles, the sector can play a non-negligible role in reaching financial services to low-income households. In regulating the sector, there is need for caution in setting interest...

The climate change negotiations are deadlocked because of a basic difference of approach. Developing countries are calling for enhanced implementation of existing agreements, while developed countries are insisting on a new agreement that would shift a large share of their obligations to the shoulders of developing countries, particularly the ‘newly emerging economies’ like India and China. The European Union is calling for negotiations on a new agreement to replace the...

-Kashmir Dispatch   High Court Bar Association has said that the revocation of “draconian laws” like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) can minimize the sufferings of the people in Jammu and Kashmir till its resolution was sought out. Addressing a just-concluded 2-day conference on National Consultation on Human Rights, conducted under the auspices of Human Rights Law network at India Islamic Centre at Lodhi Garden New Delhi India, the General Secretary of...