This “activist” was quite different from the suit-wearing PIL litigant or the Left-leaning jholawala. In the run up to Anna Hazare’s first fast over an anti-corruption law in April, a communications company provided the technical support to a service in which, if mobile users called a toll-free number, they would then receive free alerts on the protests. The service was one of an array of technologies — from Twitter updates...

After the brutal murder of Azad, is there any hope for well-meaning routine calls for “dialogue” and “peace talks”? What can the "civil society" do as a serious, real intervention? It is reported that the decades-old talks with Naga insurgent groups has made some progress recently (See “Differences ‘narrowed’,” Times of India, July 19, 2011). One reason why talks have a chance in these cases is that separatism comes in...

  Revenue dept issues direction to district collectors to provide details and particulars about all the activists seeking information under RTI Act In a move likely to raise a controversy, the state government is planning to keep all the RTI activists under  scanner. The state revenue department is learnt to have asked the district collectors to submit the details and particulars of all RTI activists from their districts, who have been filing...

Kolkata : Mamata Banerjee’s announcement banning the acquisition of land by any government department or agency for industry has grounded over a dozen key industrial parks across the state. These projects, in various stages of progress — and in which land acquisition was on — account for a committed investment of Rs 50,000 crore. The announcement — underlined by the state Industries and Finance Ministers — has stunned industry and so...

A host of steel-manufacturing units are keen to set up plants in Karnataka, and all want captive mines. SOUTH KOREA'S Posco is not the only steel-maker keen to do business in Karnataka. The State's estimated 9,000 million tonnes of good-quality iron ore reserves, which is the second largest in India, the State government's assurances on a smooth land acquisition process, the availability of water and the promise of speedy regulatory clearances...