-The Indian Express The Union Cabinet has reversed its July 2006 decision to limit the disclosure of file notings to certain issues and to exclude certain departments under the RTI Act. While the Cabinet decision is welcome, a major hurdle in the path of transparency in governance is yet to be addressed as file notings of the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC), which clears appointments to more than 2,500 key posts...

-People's Democracy IT seems the Sheila Dixit government of Delhi, backed by powerful elements in the UPA-2 central government, will let nothing stand in the way of water privatisation in the capital. Several earlier attempts going back many years to fully or partially privatise distribution of water, especially the big loan application to the World Bank in 2005, were foiled by vigilant community organisations, public interest groups, trade unions and political...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court has stayed a Full Bench judgment of the Kerala High Court holding that cooperative societies in the State would come within the ambit of ‘public authority’ under the Right to Information Act. A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra stayed the judgment for three months after hearing senior counsel V. Giri and counsel Vipin Nair, appearing for Thalappalam Service Cooperative Bank challenging the judgment dated...

-PTI Fresh incidents of arson in interior areas of Kokrajhar district were reported on Monday leading to shoot-at-sight orders, indefinite curfew and flag march by army even as the toll in the ethnic violence Assam rose to 21. Police said four more bodies were recovered during the day from Kokrajhar district. Of the total 21 deaths, Kokrajhar accounted for 17 while neighbouring four persons died in Chirang district, to where the violence between...

Universities should not have to bow to research institutes, writes Debashis Gangopadhyay. Basic Sciences versus Applied Sciences Undermining humanities studies in schools will lead to a large number of science graduates in the market. This is a boon for multinational companies as profits will escalate — the cost of labour being lower. However, the danger to profits persist from another aspect. Students who study science out of their love for a subject are...