NGOs To No Go’s     * NGOs have mushroomed; so have instances of misappropriation of funds     * Not disclosing expenditure and receipts; nor revealing who funds them     * Not setting up NGO for the task it was funded for     * Flocking to 'hot' topics, inviting accusations of singing to industrialists’ tunes     * For every NGO supporting a cause, another springs up against that cause *** NGO numbers     * 3.3 million Number of NGOs...

As government, corporates seek to engage with NGOs, they gain new significance Brave NGO World?     * The Planning Commission is courting NGOs for policy inputs, views on how to make plans work     * NGOs and local activism forced govt to stall Vedanta, Posco plans     * NGO opposition to snacks being served in schools changed plans to scrap hot meals     * NGO have made the government rethink the Polavaram dam project    ...

Just two and half years ago, Kandhamal was India’s shame as a communal violence triggered by the killing of a Hindu seer left 38 people dead, thousands of houses and hundreds of churches burnt and vandalised and several thousand people scurrying to relief camps for safety. As Christian were slayed and attacked by VHP and RSS goons across the district, it forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to call it a...

The Delhi Government will soon initiate the process to make laws for protecting the livelihood and social security rights of more than three lakh street vendors and will instruct the concerned civic bodies, enforcement department and the police to put a halt on all eviction drives, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has assured a delegation of National Association of Street Vendors of India. The Chief Minister assured that the Government...

Deputy election commissioner Vinod Zutshi is expected to visit Bengal on Wednesday, the third such trip in less than a month by the poll panel, which described the move as “rare, if not unprecedented”. During his three-day trip, Zutshi will meet the district authorities to “inspect the progress” in implementing the recommendations of an observer team that toured the state earlier this month. Zutshi is also expected to meet state government officials...