In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act as being unconstitutional and violative of Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(2) of the Constitution of India. The now defunct Section.66A of the IT Act, read as follows: “Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc.66A. Any pers
In itself a piece of data is discrete and inert. So a number remains just that, an isolated strand. But string numbers together and it has enough potential to become intelligent, almost like the way potential energy turns into explosive kinetic energy. Inert data suddenly transforms into information the moment you give it a context. Give it a perspective and it becomes knowledge. There ar
Giving concrete shape to finance minister Arun Jaitley`s announcement of a bill to trace black money, the union cabinet has just approved a law to track unaccounted wealth by strengthening of the prosecution mechanism and enhancing exchange of information, also including in its ambit stringent provisions for prosecution of offences. The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imp
The Delhi Master Plan 2021 has now become meaningless. The spate of recent notifications changing regulations relating to setbacks, ground coverage, FAR, height controls, etc, have resulted in fragmented and unrelated development across the city. Most of these changes have been made to meet the steadily increasing pressure for more intensive development, without a holistic review of their urban
Arguably the most cosmopolitan state, Goa is in the midst of a row over the Gandhi Jayanti holiday. Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar is crying foul after the Congress raked up his government’s gazette notification which does not include it among the holidays. There is also an allegation that Goa’s mainstay casino industry wanted October 2 to be taken off from the state’s holi
A German professor raises concern and the idea of statecraft and diplomacy gets a jolt. When Professor Annette Beck-Sickinger of Germany gave reasons for rejecting an Indian male student’s application for internship, it sent shock waves through the German diplomacy. Germany’s India ambassador Michael Steiner came out and condemned her action and the professor had to apologise.
Free speech has always been a subject of immense debate. Different legal regimes in different parts of the world have sought to regulate free speech on various grounds. In India, the constitution guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. However, this right under Article 19(1) of the constitution is not an absolute right. The state can impose various ‘reasonabl
The growth story of our country has remained a mixed baggage. There has been tremendous advancement in many sectors but there are also areas of huge concern. It was generally believed that liberalisation and globalisation would unshackle the economy and accelerate growth. As the national income would rise, all sections of society would get a share in the rising wealth, through a trickledown eff
It has now become the subject of a parliament debate. The home minister has even ensured a restraining order via the courts and it is clear India will not get to see the documentary on the atrocities against her daughters. Film-maker Leslee Udwin`s work India`s Daughter is to be aired across several nations on March 8, the International Women`s Day. Except in India. The governmen
It did not make much difference to aam aadmi but gave rise to huge sound bites. Rahul Gandhi is missing from budget session of parliament. During this time of hectic activity, the vice president of a major party decides to take a ‘reflective vacation’, to ‘reflect’ and ‘think’ about the party’s future. Everybody takes as v
On Valentine’s Day this year, the media had more important news to cover than the expected moral policing by self-appointed guardians of Indian culture. Arvind Kejriwal was taking oath for the second time as chief minister of Delhi. Given the unprecedented mandate in favour of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the utter humiliation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid the coll
Venkaiah Naidu is known for his plain speak and the union development minister displayed it in full measure recently at the opening address of a two-day consultation conference involving bureaucrats and municipal bodies on smart cities in New Delhi. “Everyone wants a smart city,” he said, “but are you ready for reforms?” It was as much a rhetorical question as it was one
I am not going to repeat the biblical story here; I have used this word for two giants and powerful adversaries of the AAP. The two national parties, the BJP and Congress, with decades of political existence and experience lost the election to the small and novice political force AAP. My intention here is not to write about their fall. Too much has already been written about this election. I wa
The report of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) by Pratham Foundation confirms perhaps what we already knew instinctively; that through access to education is now near universal and dropout rates are continuously declining, the quality of education is suspect. The report reveals that near half of the children who go to school in rural India cannot read, write or do ar
The RSS’s vision of Rashtranirman happens to be hazed, for the time being, by the simple and more conventional issues of bijli pani and sadak. The Delhi assembly election could be seen as an election replete with contrasts. The biggest contrast came out as the one between a grand, distant vision and more tactile issues. This Delhi election tells a contrasting narrative of desires and expe
As the dust settles over the Delhi assembly elections and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) returns with an astounding victory within a year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strategists would be left wondering whether they had unwittingly contributed to the AAP victory, creating a national opposition for itself. If Modi’s electioneering and media blitzkrieg contributed to the BJP’s victory in
Here’s the big question. Can every Indian have 24/7 internet connection? Two IIT Bombay professors and a couple of their students from the departments of electronics and aerospace presented a paper in 2007 laying out an innovative and affordable way to provide top-quality wireless broadband connectivity directly to homes through tethered mini aerostats equipped with omnidirectional antenn
The national capital votes on Saturday for its assembly. The aggressive campaigning by all political parties came to an end at 6 pm on Thursday. Campaigning took a dramatic turn in the last phase as opinion polls gave a kind of walk over to Arvin Kejriwal-led AAP. If these opinion polls are right, the AAP will return to form government in Delhi. Other state parties and communist
The issue of retaining or omitting the English language comprehension test (ELCT) from the civil services aptitude test (CSAT), which is a part of the preliminary examination (“prelims”) for the combined civil services examination, was debated hotly just about six months ago and seems to be surfacing again. After juggling with the issue for some time, the new governm
Some years ago while watching Karan Johar’s hyper-melodramatic take on “loving your parents” I was forced to stand up. The scene set in London was about celebrating our national symbols. Shah Rukh Khan’s son in the film, giving patriotic goose bumps to his parents, sings the national anthem, amidst all white students. Overwhelming as it was for his mother,
