In February 2011, India will become the first country in the world to issue its residents biometric-based numbers (UID) to establish identity. For this purpose, the Central government has constituted the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the Planning Commission. The UID number is marketed as a fundamental enabler for efficient delivery of government services and inclusive development. As per the Authority, benefits of the UID number include elimination...
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Farmers' travails
Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on farmers falling into a debt trap, the government came out with data that are startling. Rice farmers have suffered losses in all regions save Andhra Pradesh over three cropping years ending in 2006-07, with wheat farmers faring a little better. Even today, news reports suggest that farmers do not really gain much even as consumer prices go through the roof. This...
More »Judicial Activism and Investigative Journalism: Editors as PIL Litigants by Prabhakar Kulkarni
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) can be filed in any High Court or directly in the Supreme Court. It is not necessary that the petitioner has suffered some injury of his own or has had personal grievance to litigate. The PIL is a right given to the socially conscious member or a public spirited NGO to espouse a public cause by seeking judicial means for redressal of public injury. Such...
More »The Great Stabilisation
The recession was less calamitous than many feared. Its aftermath will be more dangerous than many expect IT HAS become known as the “Great Recession”, the year in which the global economy suffered its deepest slump since the second world war. But an equally apt name would be the “Great Stabilisation”. For 2009 was extraordinary not just for how output fell, but for how a catastrophe was averted. Twelve months ago,...
More »Easing change in the climate will be costly by John M Broder
In energy infrastructure alone, the transformational ambitions the Copenhagen meet is expected to set will cost more than $10 trillion in additional investment. If negotiators reach an accord at the climate talks in Copenhagen it will entail profound shifts in energy production, dislocations in how and where people live, sweeping changes in agriculture and forestry and the creation of complex new markets in global warming pollution credits. So what is...
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