-The Hindu Any move to amend the RTI Act must involve public consultation The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record — that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law — has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the...

-Firstpost.com There is nothing to prevent the government from making Aadhaar mandatory for Ayushman Bharat. Even as the Courts reopened and news on the Aadhaar verdict is awaited, a Union health ministry notification issued on 4 July has confirmed that Aadhaar will be mandatory for the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ national health insurance scheme. While details of the scheme were out in June, the new notification also sets a deadline for enrolment for those...

-The Hindu Says healthcare is denied due to stigma New Delhi: Justice Indu Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court hearing the fight against Section 377 of the IPC, made a strong case against criminalisation of homosexuality. Justice Malhotra, the junior-most member of the Bench of five led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, said homosexuality is only a variation and not an aberration. But the prejudice and stigma...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Delhi is getting buried under mounds of garbage and Mumbai is sinking under water, but the government is doing nothing, an anguished Supreme Court said on Tuesday. It slapped fines on 10 states and two union territories for not filing their affidavits on their policies for solid waste management strategy. Expressing its helplessness over the situation, the top court lamented that when the courts intervene, the judges are attacked for...

-National Herald He fears for his life and safety of his family, admits the activist from Mumbai, explaining his reluctance to speak to the media and appear on TV. Visiting the national capital for filing his petition before the Supreme Court, Manoranjan S Roy resisted attempts to drag him to TV studios. Life for him had changed ever since his RTI applications revealed discrepancies between the supply and deployment of Electronic...