Like India’s topmost judge, lawyers’ regulatory bodies have been made accountable to the public under the Right to Information Act. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled that bar councils are public authorities under the RTI Act and cannot refuse to share information lying with them with the public. The ruling is likely to kick off a rush of RTI applications to the bar councils, professional bodies that are expected to maintain...

The government’s expectation of the rabi wheat crop making good the shortfall in drought-affected kharif season received a set-back with a lower acreage in wheat, coarse cereals and oilseeds this season. Sowing of pulses, however, is 6.2 per cent higher than last year in the corresponding period. The sowing period ends around January 15. The sowing of rabi wheat, coarse cereals and oilseeds has fallen behind last year and this does not...

Matriculate Trained Teachers, who make up 87% of school teachers in India, get Rs 775 in UP Rs 892 in Assam and Rs 1,507 per month in Punjab. Even in the most highly rated schools, the average salary is Rs. 7,225 p.m. Nearly 200,000 teachers in Bihar draw a salary less than that of a peon in the government. Teachers with post graduate degrees teaching primary to higher secondary levels, draw...

Why is the government aggressively attacking and destroying inexpensive eco-friendly technologies and promoting pollution-friendly ones? Are we obliged to repeat all the mistakes that the West committed in its pursuit of economic growth? While it makes sense to corner First World countries into investing in eco- friendly technologies to control carbon emissions, as was attempted at Copenhagen, the stand of the Indian government that India cannot afford to enforce better...

Notwithstanding controversies, it passed several important judgments The year 2009 was eventful and memorable for the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan. The Court faced several controversies, the notable being the collegium’s decision to elevate Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran as one of its judges. This controversy was preceded by a clean chit to Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Nirmal Yadav in the Rs....