Free expression

As far as court judgments go, those often don't make sense to an ordinary reader. And not without reason, for they are often mired in dense legalese, or the subjects of the orders themselves don't matter a bit to ordinary people—there's a disconnect somewhere. Moreover, writings about such nebulous subjects often get lost in translation (from legalese to simple language). The Supreme Court judgment of May 13, refusing to decriminalise defamation, is one such instance. Much of the debate on the...

Every few months or seasons, someone raises the undying issue of Bangalore's decaying nightlife and the exigent need to resuscitate it. This time it has been the Tourism Vision Group which, in its report to the Karnataka government last week, called for the dire need for the state capital to shed its embarrassing "boring" tag, and push the current 11pm deadline that brings life to a standstill by another two hours. The group that made the suggestion is high-profile, not one that can be dissed...

The much-awaited public screening of Fabricated, based on the case of Abdul Nasser Maudany, will be held in Bangalore on Saturday. This screening is part of a nationwide campaign to focus on the scourge of falsely implicating activists, political opponents, and fighters for peoples' causes wantonly by the State. The film's director, KP Sasi, in this freewheeling interview with dna talks about the larger context of fabricated cases. Q: Your film deals with the issue of undertrials and fabricated...

A recent Tata DoCoMo advertisement has drawn flak from all sections of society for depicting domestic workers in a negative light. The ad, one in a series of 13 with the catchline “No Getting Away”, shows a maid stealing a mobile phone from her employer and getting caught in the act. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the self-regulatory body of the advertising industry in India, has so far received eight complaints from citizens over the ad. “This advertisement is extremely...

So the moral guardians of Indian virtues have acted again. This time, with quite a heavy hand. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has ordered television channels not to broadcast "overtly sexual" deodorant adverts that use female models in racy storylines. What else can you expect from the ministry of Ambika Soni, who rose to fame and notoreity during the Emergency era? Soni's ministry has raised serious objections to advertisements of deodorants available under the brand names of Wild...

The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in New Delhi is known to introduce regulations on the sly, but this one comes across as sinister. The new Information Technology Rules Act 2011 seeks to regulate Web content that is deemed to be “disparaging,” “harassing,” “blasphemous” or “hateful.” The Department of Information Technology (DIT) can now block any website that displays disparaging content based on a list of criteria defined by the new rules. Any official or private citizen...

Twenty years after the fall of the Communist regime, politics in Hungary has come a full circle. It has virtually abolished freedom of the press and also assumed presidency of the European Union (EU). The new media law passed on December 21 by the Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz), which enjoys a two-thirds majority in parliament, accords the government sweeping powers to monitor the press. Ironically, Hungary also marked its metamorphosis from being a mere satellite State of the erstwhile USSR...

Interpol has placed Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, on a red notice wanted list over allegations of sexual misbehavior by a Swedish prosecutor, the police organisation has announced on its website. The notice said Assange, 39, is wanted for “sex crimes” on an arrest warrant brought by the international public prosecution office in Gothenburg, Sweden. Interpol is based in Lyon, France. The Red Notice does not amount to an arrest warrant. It asks people to contact...

A journalist in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 50 lashes in public and two months in prison for reporting on a protest against power cuts. The sentence was handed down on October 26 to Fahd al-Jukhaidib, a correspondent for national daily Al-Jazira, by the General Court in Qubba in northern Saudi Arabia, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Al-Jukhaidib's article, describing the problems faced by Qubba residents as a result of frequent power cuts, was published on September 7, 2008. The...

The Japanese journalist detained for illegally entering Myanmar (Burma) has been deported. Toru Yamaji, a journalist with the video and photo agency APF News, had been arrested during Sunday's election in Myawaddy on the eastern border with Thailand. An unnamed official told Agence France-Presse (AFP), "We released him and deported him. We did not take any action against him because of the complicated situation." Yamaji, who had initially be charged under the Immigration Act, crossed over back...