At a time when Civil Society groups are playing an adversarial role in relation to the Union government, those Civil Society members who have been given an institutional role in the government have become pro-active: in the last few days, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has written three letters to the government on a range of social sector issues. The three communications relate to the NAC's recommendations on a...
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One billion people disabled, says first global report by Karen McVeigh
The World Health Organisation says disabled people more likely to be denied healthcare and less likely to find work. The proportion of disabled people is rising and now stands at one billion, or 15 per cent of the global population, according to the first official global report on disability. An ageing population and an increase in chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, mean the proportion has grown from...
More »Committee on black money to seek comments from public by Sujay Mehdudia
-The Hindu The High Level Committee appointed for tracing black money stashed away abroad and unearthing such ill-gotten wealth in the country, on Thursday decided to seek public comments on the issue. The committee, headed by Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman Prakash Chandra, held its first meeting and discussed laws that need to be amended to tackle the menace. It was set up by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last...
More »In India, Seeking Revolution in a Democracy by Manu Joseph
Swami Ramdev is a yoga instructor in saffron robes; he walks on wooden sandals and has an elastic body, an involuntary wink, flowing black hair and a full beard. He claims to have renounced worldly pleasures, but that excludes flying in private jets. He is at the helm of a thriving business in traditional treatments, herbal products, media and textiles that is worth at least hundreds of millions of dollars. Nebulous...
More »Left member shooed away
-The Hindustan Times The apolitical image of Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption came close to taking a hit when his associates called on stage a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), an ultra-Left political party to deliver a speech against corruption. But Kavita Krishnan, member of CPIM-L’s Central Committee was shooed away by the audience minutes after she started her speech. She started her speech introducing herself as a...
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