Above the Fold: Top stories of the day
1. The Cabinet has cleared a constitutional amendment bill to clear the decks for a Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh, with Assam included, resolving an age-old dispute between the neighbours.
2. Greenpeace has announce that it may shut down its India operations by the end of the month, unless its bank accounts are unfrozen. The government's focus apparently now will be on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
3. After causing a ruckus in Parliament by claiming that it wasn't aware of wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's location, the government on Tuesday clarified that it was aware the underworld don is in Pakistan.
4. A court will today pronounce its verdict on whether film actor Salman Khan was guilty of killing one person in a hit-and-run case that dates back to 2002.
The Big Story: Government promises net neutrality
After the issue of net neutrality was brought up in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made the government's stand abundantly clear. India stands committed to the idea of net neutrality, Prasad told Parliament, and his government is committed to ensuring the internet remains available and accessible to all without discrimination.
Prasad pointed out that the telecom regulator's decision to open up a consultation process had also prompted the government itself to prepare a panel on the matter, both of which will be expected to provide their reports on the issue soon enough. Meanwhile, in an interview, the Department of Telecom secretary, Rakesh Garg, clarified even further, saying zero-rated services would be in violation of net neutrality.
Specifically, Prasad has made it clear that even if the telecom regulator, TRAI, recommends a policy that doesn't include net neutrality, the government has sufficient power to overturn this to achieve national policy objectives. And, if Prasad is meaning what he says, those objectives mean an internet that maintains network neutrality and is accessible to all.
The Big Scroll
Everything you need to know about net neutrality. And here are a few good reasons to be against the idea, but only if you truly trust telecom companies.
To get Scroll's Daily Fix, a compendium of all you need to know for the day (and a little more) on your phone, download our Android app.
Politicking & Policying
1. While some seemed to have falling behind the Bharatiya Janata Party on the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, there are still sections of the Sangh Parivar that will agitate and give the government trouble over it.
2. The Constitutional Amendment Bill to introduce a Goods and Services Tax to India is expected to clear the Lok Sabha, where the BJP has a clear majority, but the Opposition is demanding it be sent to a standing committee in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill has already spent several years in committees.
3. The Real Estate Bill, which Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had slammed last week, is expected to also be sent to a standing committee rather than being passed in the Rajya Sabha.
4. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav is turning to a team of 400 "intelligence officers" who will keep a watch on factionalism in the Samajwadi Party.
Giggle
Punditry
1. Bibek Debroy in the Indian Express calls for starting the financial year on Diwali, because it would perfectly fit into the Indian agricultural calendar.
2. A leader in the Business Standard says the reason the United States still has India on an Intellectual Property Rights watchlist is because of domestic lobbies.
3. India must resist voices that oppose modern science, writes Shanthu Shantaram in Mint, and push forward on modern, genetic technology in agriculture.
4. Pointing out that even the United Kingdom has spoken up about race riots in the United States, KP Nayar in the Telegraph calls on India to to do the same.
Don't Miss
M Rajshekhar reports on medical workers in Mizoram taking personal loans just to keep the state's healthcare system running.
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1. The Cabinet has cleared a constitutional amendment bill to clear the decks for a Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh, with Assam included, resolving an age-old dispute between the neighbours.
2. Greenpeace has announce that it may shut down its India operations by the end of the month, unless its bank accounts are unfrozen. The government's focus apparently now will be on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
3. After causing a ruckus in Parliament by claiming that it wasn't aware of wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's location, the government on Tuesday clarified that it was aware the underworld don is in Pakistan.
4. A court will today pronounce its verdict on whether film actor Salman Khan was guilty of killing one person in a hit-and-run case that dates back to 2002.
The Big Story: Government promises net neutrality
After the issue of net neutrality was brought up in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made the government's stand abundantly clear. India stands committed to the idea of net neutrality, Prasad told Parliament, and his government is committed to ensuring the internet remains available and accessible to all without discrimination.
Prasad pointed out that the telecom regulator's decision to open up a consultation process had also prompted the government itself to prepare a panel on the matter, both of which will be expected to provide their reports on the issue soon enough. Meanwhile, in an interview, the Department of Telecom secretary, Rakesh Garg, clarified even further, saying zero-rated services would be in violation of net neutrality.
Specifically, Prasad has made it clear that even if the telecom regulator, TRAI, recommends a policy that doesn't include net neutrality, the government has sufficient power to overturn this to achieve national policy objectives. And, if Prasad is meaning what he says, those objectives mean an internet that maintains network neutrality and is accessible to all.
The Big Scroll
Everything you need to know about net neutrality. And here are a few good reasons to be against the idea, but only if you truly trust telecom companies.
To get Scroll's Daily Fix, a compendium of all you need to know for the day (and a little more) on your phone, download our Android app.
Politicking & Policying
1. While some seemed to have falling behind the Bharatiya Janata Party on the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, there are still sections of the Sangh Parivar that will agitate and give the government trouble over it.
2. The Constitutional Amendment Bill to introduce a Goods and Services Tax to India is expected to clear the Lok Sabha, where the BJP has a clear majority, but the Opposition is demanding it be sent to a standing committee in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill has already spent several years in committees.
3. The Real Estate Bill, which Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had slammed last week, is expected to also be sent to a standing committee rather than being passed in the Rajya Sabha.
4. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav is turning to a team of 400 "intelligence officers" who will keep a watch on factionalism in the Samajwadi Party.
Giggle
#hornokplease : Today's cartoon by @hemantmorparia pic.twitter.com/k7HPCmhZt3"
— hemant morparia (@hemantmorparia) May 4, 2015Punditry
1. Bibek Debroy in the Indian Express calls for starting the financial year on Diwali, because it would perfectly fit into the Indian agricultural calendar.
2. A leader in the Business Standard says the reason the United States still has India on an Intellectual Property Rights watchlist is because of domestic lobbies.
3. India must resist voices that oppose modern science, writes Shanthu Shantaram in Mint, and push forward on modern, genetic technology in agriculture.
4. Pointing out that even the United Kingdom has spoken up about race riots in the United States, KP Nayar in the Telegraph calls on India to to do the same.
Don't Miss
M Rajshekhar reports on medical workers in Mizoram taking personal loans just to keep the state's healthcare system running.
It has been four or five months since the district administration received funds from the state health department, says Lalnuntluangi. This delay has put the local administration in the impossible position of choosing between running local medical infrastructure like the hospital and primary health centres, programmes such as immunisation, and keeping the mobile medical units on the road. In Champhai, it has picked immunisation.