Right to information is being transformed into right to deny information before our very eyes https://theleaflet.in/information-and-transparency/right-to-information-is-being-transformed-into-right-to-deny-information-before-our-very-eyes The Girish Ramchandra judgment < https://indiankanoon.org/doc/160205361/ > gives a licence to refuse most information at will to public information officers, first appellate authorities, information commissioners and courts. Realising that it may be difficult for public information officers and other appellate authorities to decide on what constitutes privacy, the Parliament gave a simple test in the proviso that information that would not be denied to the Parliament or legislature would not be denied to any person.
It did not conclude whether the information was with respect to public activity, or whether it was an invasion of privacy. Further, it did not even quote the all-important proviso about denying the information to the Parliament. It was as if the court did not read the complete provision!
It can even be used to deny information for which the RTI Act mandates suo moto disclosure under Section 4.
The nation must realise that the curbs on freedom of speech, the right to publish and the right to information are interlinked and must be treated with equal importance, writes Shailesh Gandhi.
in the ADR PUCL judgment, the Supreme Court had ordered that citizens have a right to know about the assets of those who want to become public servants (stand for elections) the Girish Deshpande judgment ruled that citizens had no right to know about the assets of a public servant!
https://www.youtube.com/wIs China moving towards Ladakh again?atch?v=8gbuSbUU9n0 Ravish Kumar Official Jan 4, 2025
Can there be any similarity between the coverage of journalist Mukesh Chandrakar's murder and the coverage of China's claims in Ladakh? When we analyzed today's newspapers, something similar was seen. The news is made to disappear in front of your eyes and you do not even know. A few months ago, an atmosphere was being created regarding the China issue that everything has been resolved. But today China's claims have raised questions on those news. Where will you go by holding the hand of Godi Media. Look at the journalists who are doing journalism by risking their lives. Who is raising voice for them? Is it not a matter of shame that a journalist was murdered and this incident was not even covered properly?
https://www.youtube.com/live/Upw22wp7PiY a discussion featuring two esteemed speakers:
• Mr. Madhav Deshpande
• Mr. Tirthraj Samant
Awakening Bharat Mata | A book that sheds light on the rise of the Right https://www.financialexpress.com/life/lifestyle-awakening-bharat-mata-a-book-that-sheds-light-on-the-rise-of-the-right-1643288/ Rishi Raj July 14, 2019 Post-partition, the Congress remained the only dominant political force and in power for long years, while parties espousing only the Hindu cause were confined to the fringes.
in the history of the 20th and 21st centuries, The Left can no longer be said to be progressive, considering that it advocates status quo on labour issues and opposes reforms which promise jobs to a larger workforce compared to the entrenched labour unions whose interest Left parties espouse. Similarly, to call the Right as conservatives entrenched in tradition and customs doesn’t quite gel with the history of social reforms in Hindu society brought about by the likes of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar or Swami Vivekanand....
Post-partition, the Congress remained the only dominant political force and in power for long years, while parties espousing only the Hindu cause were confined to the fringes. This was largely due to the presence of Hindu leaders and Hindu thought within the Congress. All this was, however, slowly lost as the Congress increasingly started relying on Muslim, as well as Dalit votes, and abandoned the larger Hindu causes. As it vacated this space, gradually the influence of BJP and RSS grew, and the Shah Bano case and Ram Janmabhoomi issue accelerated it
since the rise of the Left academia on the campus, under the tutelage of Indira Gandhi,... In the early Seventies, Nurul Hasan concentrated on packing all institutions related to social sciences with people of Leftist hue. While political power changed hands after Indira, no party, not even the BJP under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, tinkered with the status quo on the academic front. Right wing historians RC Majumdar and Jadunath Sarkar, noted journalist Girilal Jain, Right wing scholar Sita Ram Goel, conservative writer Nirad C Chaudhuri and social and economic activist S Gurumurthi were sidelined..
https://www.moneylife.in/absolute_power/buzz.html https://youtu.be/V7cAU6wpkdE
Prof Sanjay Bakshi Discusses “Absolute Power”, with Sucheta Dalal & Debashis Basu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3WohtDajfs
2025: The New Normal Returns 2025: The New Normal Returns https://youtu.be/k5Tz7Py5Y5I https://moneylife.in/article/2025-the-new-normal-returns/75990.html
Moneylife News Bites
Jan 2, 2025
Is India settling into a 'New Normal' of economic growth? With growth stabilizing at around 5.5% to 6%, the 'new Hindu rate of growth' raises critical questions about the sustainability of economic and market performance.
the growth in Central government gross tax revenues has fallen to 10.8% in April-October FY24-25, compared to 18% in FY22-23 and 14% in FY23-24. Similarly, goods and services tax (GST) collections have slowed significantly. After a 26.2% growth in FY22-23, as the economy rebounded from COVID-19, GST collections grew by just 11.9% in FY23-24 and 9.3% in April-November FY24-25. ... In April-November FY24-25, growth in power consumption slowed to 3.9%, down from 9.7% in FY23-24. Cement production increased by only 1.8% during the same period, while fuel consumption grew by just 3.3%.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Toxic Waste Cleared From Union Carbide Site After 40 Years. Here's Why https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilaPyc2nwT8
Jan 2, 2025 #BhopalGasTragedy #MadhyaPradesh #UnionCarbide
As the world rang in the new year, trucks carrying 377 tons toxic waste left over Bhopal - the site of the horrific 1984 gas tragedy. In a major operation last night, 377 tons of hazardous waste was shifted to Pithampur in Dhar district- about 250km away from Bhopal. Extensive prepartations and arrangements were put in place for the operation. The waste was loaded in 12 specially designed leak-proof and fire-resistant containers. Meanwhile, life continues to remain harsh for the survivors and even those trying to help them out.
Narendra Modi’s Populist Facade Is Cracking
India is now a testing ground for whether demagoguery or deteriorating living conditions exert a greater sway on voters.
By Robert F. Worth
In the Age of Digital Empires, India Must Chase Tech Sovereignty https://www.outlookbusiness.com/magazine/in-an-age-of-digital-empires-india-must-chase-tech-sovereignty Deepsekhar Choudhury 1 January 20
When the Kargil war broke out in 1999, India asked the US for access to the military version of its global positioning system (GPS). The US government, still angry with India for conducting nuclear tests the previous year, refused. The refusal spawned the creation of NavIC—a navigation system created by the Indian Space Research Organisation. “It was a blessing in disguise,” says AK Bhatt, a retired general of the Indian Army and current director general of the Indian Space Association.
The moment of necessity for India to create its own critical technologies has arrived. Wars at present no longer depend only on navigation systems, aircraft and missiles. They have already spilled into telecommunications and will soon spill into automotives, energy and health care. And in the multipolar world order we are fast approaching, every sovereign nation will need its own technology.
The Indian government recognises this. And has thus unleashed a $50bn push to build domestic technological capacities in sectors such as chips, quantum computing, electric vehicles and AI. Tech policymakers are increasingly crafting policies that support the creation of IPs. The government is also planning a $4bn subsidy programme to promote design and electronics component manufacturing in a bid to move up the value chain.
Narendra Modi’s Populist Facade Is Cracking https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/modi-nationalism-demagoguery-limitations/681094/ Robert F. Worth India is now a testing ground for whether demagoguery or deteriorating living conditions exert a greater sway on voters. India’s growth has been heavily weighted toward the wealthy, who have become exponentially richer on Modi’s watch. Those who have benefited most are a small cadre of billionaire friends to whom Modi has granted special access for years. That practice was cast in a new light in November, when American prosecutors indicted the industrialist Gautam Adani—India’s second-richest man and a close Modi ally—for his role in a multibillion-dollar bribery-and-fraud scheme. (His company has denied the charges, calling them baseless.) The accusation revived fears about opacity and cronyism—the specter of “India Inc.”—that Modi had promised to address a decade ago.
At the same time, eight in 10 Indians live in poverty. Extraordinary numbers are out of work; one estimate puts unemployment among those ages 15 to 24 at more than 45 percent (though other estimates run lower). Instead of moving from farms to seek employment in cities, as people in other developing countries have done, many Indians—unable to find factory or service jobs—are making the trek in reverse, even as farm income stagnates and drought turns fields into deserts. .. What, in the long run, exerts greater sway on the electorate—the lure of demagoguery, or the reality of deteriorating living conditions?
- Extent of Hatred..
- Rethinking the role of communalism and institutionalized injustices in India- Yamine Peer
- Revision of Prison rules!
- Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System
- Divisive rhetoric based on religion big challenge for constitutional ideal of fraternity
- Re-introduction of Public Security Bill in Maharashtra,
- Manipulated Video Sharing
- Crises in Western Financial Systems.. End of World Bank?
- Mumbai Wakes Up To Layer Of Smog; What is Mumbai's Excuse For Deadly Air Pollution?
- Urban Naxals and Red Book: The BJP's efforts to Undermine Rahul Gandhi's championing of the Marginalised
- In Maharashtra, Fadnavis’s Foray to Capture Bhima-Koregaon
- 18th AIPSC 2024
- The Rise of Gautam Adani
- How George Soros became ‘Enemy Number 1’ for India’s Modi
- A Road To Nowhere the fate of the Mutha River
- A True Sardar
- Saving Young Adults In Consensual Relationships From Prosecution Under Child Sex Abuse Law Has Become A Matter Of Luck
- Kashmiri shawl sellers say not allowed to trade in Himachal Pradesh, being told to go back
- Shyam Benegal speaks on Dr Binayak Sen
- Air pollution in India linked to millions of deaths