What Obama did on his first day in office (a lesson for India's leadership, and, much more, for its fuddy duddy, recalcitrant, complacent bureaucrats)

Upon taking office, Obama ordered all secret U.S. prisons
closed immediately, and the detention center at Guantanamo
Bay closed within a year; he stopped the torture of
American prisoners; granted access to all U.S. detainees
to the International Red Cross; ended the practice by
which detainees could be sent to countries where they
might be tortured; froze the salaries of all White House
officials making more than $100,000; ordered all
government agencies to "adopt a presumption in favor of
disclosure" regarding Freedom of Information Act requests;
ordered all administration appointees to take an ethics
pledge; ended a government ban on funding for groups that
provide abortion services or counseling abroad; and
revoked Executive Order 13233, which placed limits on
public access to the records of former presidents.

copyright: Harpers Magazine