In yet another instance of how whistleblowers are targeted in the country, an activist, Niyamat Ansari, who worked for the implementation of the NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme), was beaten to death in Jharkhand's Latehar district. It all started after Ansari and his friends, on February 20, exposed a case of brazen embezzlement of NREGS funds. They lodged an FIR against the former Block Development Officer (BDO) of Manika, Kailash...

Budgets are no longer statements of accounts or expenditure. In the contemporary context, they are to be seen more as a statement of intent, ambition, reform and politics of inclusion. If these are the parameters on which Budget 2011 is to be judged, it fails despite an implicit statement of intent. For a government which has been elected on the agenda of inclusion, even the statement of intent is not new....

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee made sure to defer to the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council's priorities as he presented the Union budget for 2011-2012 on Monday. The Minister took care to mention that the Food security Bill, the NAC's top priority, was almost ready and would be brought before Parliament later this year. He also took on board the NAC's concerns on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme...

An activist working for the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme was killed after being caned continuously at Jerua village in Latehar district. The activist, Niyamat Ansari, a close aide of noted economist Jean Dreze, died after a group beat him with lathis, police said. The rebels reportedly dragged him out of his residence at 7 PM and started beating him up mercilessly. He was admitted to a local hospital...

The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared a Bill seeking to prevent sexual abuse of children, with provisions for stringent punishment for such offences. The proposed legislation aims at protecting children against offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment, pornography and provides for establishment of special courts for trial of such offences. Section 7 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011, does not provide for any punishment if the consent for...