-DNA Among the many government departments trying to subvert the sunshine Right to Information law by denying information on frivolous grounds, market watchdog Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) appears to be at the forefront of citing bizarre reasons for denial. Replying to an application filed by DNA in January 2010, Sebi said it could not furnish copies of board meetings’ minutes because photocopying them would damage the original records. “If there...

-Outlook Inadequate infrastructure and lack of facilities at AIIMS today came under scanner of a Parliamentary panel which slammed the government for its "failure" to even provide for a state-of-the-art ambulance to transport the Delhi gang-rape victim to the airport recently. Sources said members of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, in its meeting here, lamented that the government had to borrow an ambulance from a private hospital to transport the girl to...

-The Hindu CJI questions Trust’s locus standi to file petition The Supreme Court has rejected a plea for revisiting the 1993 nine-judge judgment giving its collegium primacy in appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. In April 2010, a two-judge Bench, after hearing Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati and amicus curiae A.K. Ganguly, posted before a larger Bench the petition filed by Suraz India Trust seeking review of the collegium system. Accordingly, the...

-The Hindu The Union government should dispel the States’ fears of centralisation if it wants to rescue the idea from total rejection The idea of a national water framework law mooted by the Central government has run into strong opposition from the Chief Ministers of several States. The aim of this article is to clarify the issues involved for the information of the general public. I am obliged to strike a personal note...

-The Hindu Rival religious extremists survive by feeding off each other. In India, Hindutva and Islamist leaders and activists have often mobilised men and materials through inflammatory hate speeches. But by any yardstick, the recent rabble-rousing speech of Akbaruddin Owaisi, leader of the Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, plumbs new depths. In substance, his speech was a clear attempt to promote enmity between Hindus and Muslims, and disrupt the...