Washington-based Freedom Institute has expressed concern over the decreasing freedom of expression on the Internet in India. The Institute, which put India in the company of states like China, Egypt and Iran which saw a deterioration of freedom of expression on the Internet since the 2009 report, highlighted the tightening of Surveillance and prosecution of online posts. India’s freedom index declined from 34 in 2009 to 36 in 2011, reflecting the...

The Ratnagiri police are allegedly tapping phones and scrutinising call records of leaders including those of political parties to gather crucial information related to the agitation against the proposed nuclear plant in Jaitapur. Senior leaders like B G Kolse-Patil, Justice P B Sawant and Vaishali Patil have alleged that since they are heading the protests, the police are monitoring their movements continuously through technical Surveillance. Cops evasive When asked about phone tapping,...

Exceeding 235 million tonnes, it has been the highest since Independence India's food production crossed 235 million tonnes during 2010-11 as per the latest estimates and this is the highest since Independence, S. Ayyappan, Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, said on Saturday. The previous highest production, at nearly 233 million tonnes, was achieved in 2008-09, while the output declined to around 218 million tonnes during 2009-10, he said interacting...

Do we, the Indian middle class, see the corruption within us? I was too busy being corrupt to join Anna Hazare’s camp last week. For four days, I heard nothing but stories of our Tahrir Square-like revolution against the corrupt unfurling right under our noses in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. But it was school admission time and I had some serious palm-greasing, document-fudging, string-pulling, weight-throwing and tout-chasing to do. I had...

The Income Tax Department has handed over to the CBI tapes of a fresh set of an estimated 15,000 conversations of intercepted telephone calls which could widen the scope of the agency’s probe in the 2G scam and spell trouble for corporate lobbyist Niira Radia. The 15,000 conversations involve two alleged Delhi-based hawala dealers Anil Bansal and R S Bansal whose phones were put on Surveillance along with those of Radia...