-First Post Electoral logic is driving the UPA towards a patent illegality: forcing people to part with sensitive private information such as biometric data or finger-prints without having any law to protect privacy in place. As things stand, getting yourself an Aadhaar card issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is voluntary; you are not legally bound to part with this information to anyone, leave alone the UIDAI ....

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Unmindful of the chief minister himself telling the legislature that it is the Centre's directive that unless a district has 80% registration, providing subsidies through Aadhaar cannot be undertaken, citizens are being coerced into getting a UID number. "When we informed the school principal that Parliament is yet to pass the Bill, she categorically told us that there was no harm in obtaining the card. The deadline...

-The Times of India It is universally recognised that for ensuring people's participation in governance and holistic development, the best instrumentality is local government. So when Parliament passed the 73rd Constitution Amendment Bill on December 23, 1992 to enshrine the essential features of panchayats in the Constitution, this was hailed as historic. But where do our panchayats stand 20 years after becoming institutions of self-government? A big issue before the founders of...

-The Hindu     Lakshmi Puri calls for greater political momentum on Women's Reservation Bill "My ambition for my country is it should become a democracy for women, by women and of women. This revolution is happening at the local level but [it] should also happen at the State and national level," said Lakshmi Puri, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and acting head of U.N. Women. She believes much progress has been made by...

-The Times of India NAGPUR: After voting rights if there has been any other weapon which has empowered an Indian citizen it is the Right to Information (RTI). RTI is used to seek information about matters which affect the aamadami. How much of information is being handed out is still a contentious issue, but the act has definitely created a battalion of social activists. An RTI activist is not exactly the harried...