The country which faces police vacancy to the tune of over 5 lakh personnel deploys three cops to protect its one VIP as against availability of merely one cop for 761 lesser mortals. Recently released data on police organizations in the country revealed how different states and Union Territories tend to deploy more and more cops for VIP security than the sanctioned strength of police personnel for this purpose. Though the Union...

-The Times of India It was UPA 1's winning mantra. But the Rs 33,000 crore a year rural job guarantee scheme may be floundering with the government admitting the flagship programme suffers from delayed payments, poor awareness, lack of durable assets, faulty job cards and muster rolls. The finance ministry has echoed some of the major criticisms of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act listing endemic "lack of awareness about...

-The Indian Express   Striking a defiant note, Arvind Kejriwal today replied to the privilege notices served on him for "insulting" Parliament, saying how can he respect the institution which has MPs with "criminal background". The Team Anna member alleged that all the parties are responsible for bringing Parliament to disrepute as 162 MPs with criminal background have managed to get into it. "There was a Parliament in which Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned (from...

-The Telegraph   No one can accuse the Bengal government of mixing the personal with the professional — even when it comes to reading habits. “Believe me, Anandabazar Patrika, The Telegraph and Bartaman are among my favourite newspapers,” state mass education and library services minister Abdul Karim Chowdhury said today. Newspapers should be wary of unalloyed praise from those in power but Chowdhury’s statement stands out because of a curious detail that testifies to...

-The Telegraph The Mamata Banerjee government’s move to appropriate the financial powers of the zilla parishads in North 24-Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad has set the stage for battle in next year’s panchayat elections. Senior Trinamul leaders said with the financial powers gone, these three zilla parishads have effectively been wrested from the Left. Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said the move to take away the financial powers was an “administrative necessity” as in the...