-Newslaundry.com Journalists face wrath of authorities and illegal sand mining mafia MP’s Khargone. Pradeep Gangle, 35, was following up on a lead on illegal sand mining on July 1 earlier this year. He found mounds of sand stored in Khargone district’s Umar Khali village, which could potentially be loaded onto 1,000 trolleys. There are 30 designated spots in Khargone district where sand mining is allowed but this place in Umar Khali village...

-TheWire.in For millions of rural families who still lack access to good internet connectivity or are computer illiterate, the programme may end up increasing out-of-pocket expenses. As part of the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP), the central government intends to create an Aadhaar-like unique identification for every land parcel in the country. The initiative named Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) will assign a geo-referenced 14-digit alphanumeric unique ID for...

-IANS New Delhi: Press freedom in India has deteriorated in 2018 and three journalists have been killed in the first four months, media watchdog The Hoot said, stating that "journalists continue to be vulnerable". The number of killings documented by the Hoot report for the first four months was the same as in the whole of 2017. "They were killed in connection with their reporting, judging by what initial investigations show," it said. India...

-The Times of India JAIPUR: Rajasthan is heading for deep water crises not due to fluctuating monsoon, but due to shunning of traditional practices using and conserving water. Every village household till a century or some decades ago had its own water conservation system by effectively using used domestic water for cleaning clothes, irrigation. Lastly, accumulating the wastewater in a small hole in the end, say experts at a two conference...

-The Indian Express RTI Act needs to be protected against attempts to dilute it. RTI activists must be made less vulnerable In April, the government of India proposed amendments to the RTI Act, one of the most empowering pieces of legislation inherited from the UPA era. The most controversial amendment pertained to Rule 12. It would allow the withdrawal of an application in case of the applicant’s death, making the job of...