Last month, leaders from 185 countries met in New York to take stock of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — which include, among other things, eradicating poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health — that were set in 2000 by the United Nations. The aim was to achieve these goals by 2015. But 10 years down the line, the world is way behind targets in achieving...

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, the Ahmedabad-based Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) has announced its plans to pioneer an effort to protect RTI applicants against any perceived or real threat. The MAGP helplines: +919924085000 and 07926821553 (fax) will now take details of the applications, nature of threats, and addresses from such applicants and forward them, along with a complaint, to the concerned police...

The Aadhaar or UID project has grave implications for every Indian. It will enable the government to profile every citizen and track their movements and transactions. There is no guarantee that intimate personal information -- pre-existing illnesses, romantic relationships etc -- won't be shared with other agencies, warns Praful Bidwai. An elaborate charade has begun with the rolling out of the first Aadhaar unique identity numbers in a tribal district of Maharashtra by...

Delhi is an anxious city this monsoon season, struggling to meet an onerous deadline. Preparations continue at a feverish pace for the 19th Commonwealth Games (CWG), which will bear down on the Indian metropolis October 3-14, along with some 8,500 athletes from the 71 states and territories that were once part of the British Empire. Around-the-clock construction and spells of heavy monsoon rain have turned Delhi into a swirl of mud...

“Has the Right to Information (RTI) Act served its purpose? Well, the answer is that it has not done what it should have,” said former judge of the Bombay high court, justice Hosbet Suresh, speaking at a function to celebrate five years of the RTI Act. Other speakers included Julio Ribeiro, and now retired state chief information commissioner Dr Suresh Joshi. The celebration took place at the Indian Merchant Chambers (IMC) and...