As more and more people connect to the web, governments across the world are looking to regulate and control the virtual world. In India too there is a growing debate on whether the web, especially social networking sites, should be regulated or not. In an exclusive article for The Times of India, Vint Cerf, considered one of the fathers of the internet along with Bob Kahn, says the beauty of...

Alarmed by its proactive role, the three ‘pillars’ of our democracy set out to weaken the fourth estate Fundamentalisms do not necessarily announce their arrival by banging a hammer on our heads. Freedoms are often lost in little steps. The process creeps in quietly but insidiously. The path is often complex and defies a simple narrative. But here’s a straightforward fact: a concerted attempt is being made to censor, control...

-The Hindu Both documents extensively discuss need for competitive bidding for scarce natural resources The fate of the Ashok Chawla Committee report on the allocation of natural resources suggests a wider government unwillingness to accept competitive bidding, auctions and market-linked pricing for scarce, natural resources lies at the heart of its 2G review petition. The Committee was set up on January 31, 2011, at the peak of the 2G scam expose and just...

-The Hindu The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a crucial Bill that extends the time limit from three to six years for providing reservation to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes in the Central education institutions. The Bill also seeks to add a proviso that if there are Central educational institutions in a tribal area, the State seats in those institutions shall have reservation for the SCs,...

Nearly 138 million Indian smokers do not know that smoking tobacco causes stroke. As many as 92 million on the other hand aren't aware that tobacco causes heart disease. According to a report released on Friday by the World Heart Federation, half of all Chinese smokers and one-third of Indian and Vietnamese smokers are unaware of the risks tobacco poses to our heart. Awareness of the risk of second-hand smoke is even lower. Around...