-First Post Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his address to the Annual Convention of Information Commissioners, in early October had warned against the use of the Right to Information Act — one of the most popular people-oriented steps that the UPA has taken so far — to ridicule public officials and infringe on people’s privacy. The PM’s statement which expressed concern over frivolous and vexatious RTI applications, infringement of personal privacy and...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 5207
Neither effective nor equitable-Bharat Bhatti and Madhulika Khanna
-The Hindu The direct cash transfer scheme launched a year ago in Kotkasim for providing kerosene subsidies has pushed legitimate beneficiaries out of the system The nondescript town of Kotkasim in the Alwar district of Rajasthan had its Peepli Live moment after it was chosen for a pilot experiment with “direct cash transfers” of kerosene subsidies. According to the district administration, the scheme led to net savings of 79 per cent in...
More »Free the people: IT Act's Section 66A, as it stands, has no place in a democracy
-The Times of India The UPA government has itself to blame for being red-faced over Section 66A of the Information Technology Act. Had it come down heavily on the law's repeated misuse, the Supreme Court wouldn't have had to step in. Last week, the apex court issued notices to the Centre and five states in connection with a PIL questioning the legal soundness of Section 66A. It sought explanations for arrests...
More »Socialism, Cash Down-Uttam Sengupta and Arindam Mukherjee
-Outlook Its ploy of Aadhar-hinged cash transfer may have won the Congress political points, but will it really be a game-changer? State-Wise 40% of the 22 crore Aadhar numbers are in Andhra Pradesh (4.7 crore) and Maharashtra (4 crore) 20% is what the two politically sensitive, Congress-ruled states account for of the 51 districts where DCT will be rolled out 55 lakh Aadhar numbers in TMC-run West Bengal. BJP-ruled Gujarat (57...
More »Doha Climate Talks Enter Into Final Week -Wasfia Jalali
-Outlook Doha: The climate talks here in the Qatari capital limped into its final week today with hard close-door negotiations yet to yield any visible outcomes amid warnings from highly vulnerable nations that time was running out. The talks have a crucial agenda to decide a treaty which could replace the Kyoto Protocol besides ensuring that the parties to the pact commit to ambitions under the second commitment period which will come...
More »
