Activist Gopal Krishna makes a case that the Unique Identification Number project is a gross violation of fundamental human rights and points out that a similar project/law in Britain is going to be repealed. This is with reference to a privacy invasion project which is relevant to India and all the democratic countries of the world. The very first bill that is to be presented by the UK's new coalition...

With the proposed food security law likely to get a momentum after the formal constitution of the National Advisory Council (NAC), under the chairmanship of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Rural Development Ministry has also decided to speed up the process for identification of rural below poverty line (BPL) families. In this context, the ministry has decided to conduct pilot studies across the country for fine tuning the parameters required...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday singled out resilience of the Indian economy in times of global meltdown as a signature achievement of UPA II's first year in office, and pushed for "new frontiers" in implementing the social inclusion agenda, including food security act and education for all. In a spirit of introspection, Manmohan Singh, however, admitted that soaring prices of basic commodities remained a source of concern and stressed that...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appointed 14 members to the  National Advisory Council in consultation with its chair Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced on Tuesday. The members of the high-profile NAC include eminent scientists, academics, intellectuals and civil society activists. While four members of the previous NAC -- Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, N C Saxena and A K Shiva Kumar - have been renominated to the panel,...

UPA's 'Planning Commission' for its development agenda - the National Advisory Council - is in place. The Congress high command has chosen a constellation of individuals with formidable reputations to steer the social agenda in UPA's second term. The watchdog, to be headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, will include Madhab Gadgil, Harsh Mander, M S Swaminathan, Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, N C Saxena, Farha Naqvi, Anu Aga, Narendra Jadhav,...