An efficient delivery system is essential to keep up the achievements made by Kerala in the social sector over the decades, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said on Saturday. "Kerala has achieved remarkable growth in life index compared to many other Indian states. Now it is important that these achievements are maintained by improving the delivery system," he said, inaugurating an international conference on Reaching out to people: Achieving Millennium Development...

Top ICMR scientists transferred Rs 70- crore tract  of govt land to themselves to build society flats If Mumbai's Adarsh scam saw former service chiefs, politicos and bureaucrats help themselves to flats meant for Kargil heroes and war widows, a multi- crore realty FRAud allegedly involving senior scientists has been unearthed in Noida.The CBI has homed in on the retired top brass of the Indian Council of Medical Research ( ICMR)...

National Advisory Council (NAC) will examine threadbare the new draft rules FRAmed for Right to Information Act , which make it mandatory for applicants to file questions in 250 words and pay for hiring photocopy machine used to provide information. NAC’s sub-group on transparency and accountability, headed by social activist Aruna Roy, would discuss the draft rules in its meeting on Monday. The draft rules for RTI Act have been FRAmed...

They show strategy of planting, killing stories, and blacklisting agencyThe new tapes reveal use or consideration of strong-arm lobbying techniquesVir Sanghvi defends conversation with Niira Radia as “sweet-talking” a news sourceThe contents of a fresh set of leaked phone conversations involving Niira Radia and her associates paint an alarming picture of the extent to which the influential lobbyist — whose clients include Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata — sought to...

Recently an interesting article appeared in The New York Times on how after the completion of a social audit at Nagarkurnool in Andhra Pradesh, villagers punished a local official for swindling funds allocated to the central government's flagship project, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. The irate villagers tied the official's hands and paraded him around the neighbouring villages. This is not a one-off incident; similar accounts have...