-The Hindu Opposition members question government’s commitment to democratic norms The Lok Sabha on Monday passed three Bills in 20 minutes as disruption by Opposition members over the Pegasus snooping controversy and the farms continued into the last week of the monsoon session of Parliament. The government also introduced three Bills in the din, prompting Congress leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Manish Tewari to question the government’s commitment to democratic norms. RSP’s N.K. Premachandran...

-Scroll.in In a world of powerful spying tools, Indian democracy urgently needs checks on intelligence gathering. With allegations that opposition leaders, Union ministers, bureaucrats, an election commissioner and even a Supreme Court judge could have been spied on, the Pegasus spyware scandal points to one of the most egregious misuses of power in India’s history. The Israeli manufacturer of Pegasus insists that it only sells its weapons-grade spyware to governments, prompting allegations that...

-TheWire.in A little surprised at the security measures, a farmer from Karnataka said the Jantar Mantar protest site seemed 'Emergency-esque' and resembled the border with Pakistan. New Delhi: It was about noon, when the brown dogs began to growl. Long hours of waiting, three “security checks” and a sultry sun made mediapersons slightly edgy, but the ‘Kisan Sansad’ was not in session yet. My eyes drifted to the red sundial across the...

-The Tribune Right from the inception of parliamentary democracy in our country, every party has appointed a whip tasked with disciplining the elected representatives. But what about direct command from the voters? Why can’t the voters bypass the parties and instruct their representatives on how to conduct themselves in Parliament? THE Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s decision to issue a ‘voters’ whip’ is one more democratic innovation in these dark times when formal democratic...

-TheWire.in India is on its way to completing its demographic transition. It should stop fretting about the population problem. Instead, it needs to invest massively in education and health and provide stable, well-paying jobs. In recent weeks, the enormity of India’s “population problem” seems to have suddenly gripped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership. Following the lead of Assam, the state of Uttar Pradesh has also started preparations for introducing a population control...