-TheWire.in RTI activist Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh K. Batra says he was provided details on the appointment of information commissioners during the Manmohan Singh era, but under the Modi government, there has been a marked change. New Delhi: Over the last 12 years, deliberate attempts have been made to dilute and lessen the effectiveness of the Right to Information Act, according to RTI activist Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh K. Batra. On the basis of the...

-The Indian Express To suggest that demonetisation improved rural wages on the basis of rise in income of some workers is misleading. It halted the recovery of the rural economy, which had begun after the 2016 monsoon. There is now a consensus that the economy has been slowing down and is headed for a hard landing. Many who matter have spoken out and as Yashwant Sinha points out (‘I need to speak...

-The Indian Express It underlined that the US government funded the 2017 report which estimated 40 million slaves in the world, including 25 million in the Asia-Pacific. WARNING that “global documentation on slavery is increasingly targeting India as home to the highest number of slaves in the world,” the Intelligence Bureau in a “secret” note has recommended a strong campaign to “discredit” the information and a diplomatic offensive against it. The Bureau submitted...

-TheWire.in In addition to “launching” a scheme that basically already existed, the prime minister’s claim that his government has a good record on rural electrification contradicts the data. Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week announced a reportedly brand new scheme to electrify all villages in India and to provide electricity to all by the end of 2018. The scheme was called the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana or ‘Saubhagya’ intiative....

-Livemint.com For Narendra Modi, the protests involving hundreds of thousands of farmers highlight his struggle to deliver on the promises that swept him to power New Delhi: Anger over falling farm incomes has spilled onto streets across a swathe of India’s largest states as farmers struggle with food price deflation and a breakdown of the informal agriculture economy. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi—already grappling with a sharp economic slowdown and looming job cuts...