-National Herald Well-known Belgian-Indian economist Jean Drèze, reflects on the times we live in this animated conversation with Ujjawal Krishnam Jean Drèze, the Belgian-Indian economist, true to his reputation, laces humour and an acerbic wit to reflect on the times we live in. Self deprecating, he brushes aside the question how he juggles between his roles as economist, activist and teacher. He wonders at the multi-tasking ability of Indian women instead. Nor...

-Frontline.in Interview with Aruna Roy. ARUNA ROY is a well-known social and political activist. A former Indian Administrative Service officer, she resigned from the IAS in 1975 and has since worked with the most oppressed in society. Aruna Roy’s observation on government service is indicative of her future concerns: “Everyone calls it an elite service; I always felt the discourse should be a bit better than what it was. I was shocked...

-Hindustan Times Gadkari, who launched the ‘Rear Seat-Belt Usage and Child Road Safety in India’ report, pointed that almost 90% Indians also face safety risks by not using rear seat belts. New Delhi: Nine out of 10 Indians do not secure children with seat belts while travelling in four-wheelers or ensure they wear helmets on two-wheelers, according to a study, which Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari cited on...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Exhorting the government to take necessary steps to formulate statistics pertaining to construction workers, domestic workers and women workers in the unorganised sector, the Central Information Commission has recommended the ministry of labour and employment carry out the exercise in line with provisions meant to promote “transparency, accountability and conformity” in the RTI Act. Then Information Commissioner, M Sridhar Acharyulu (who retired on November 21), in...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: At a time when the government is mulling changes in the RTI Act, information commissioner Divya Prakash Sinha has suggested that investigative, intelligence and security agencies like NIA, CBI, IB and paramilitary forces should come under the purview of the law, saying there are adequate safeguards in the Act to keep sensitive information outside the public domain. The former IPS officer, who spent most of his...