At the second-floor office of 5th Pillar, a three-year-old Chennai-based non-governmental organization (NGO), 40-year-old Vijay Anand vociferously evangelizes to a crowd of 25 people on a Saturday evening. He urges the group—a mix of students and working professionals who are there to learn about how to get information on public officials—to fight corruption and shame corrupt government workers by offering the zero- rupee note that contains the promise to neither...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Questions of judicial access by VR Krishna Iyer
Is it the Supreme Court of India, or the Supreme Court for Indians? The law must be equally open to the humblest, simplest and little member of the community A decentralised system of judicature is a paramount property for democracy to have élan A Supreme Court of India, and a Supreme Court for all Indians: these two versions can be radically different in terms of principle and content. The Preamble to...
More »First Indian head for Amnesty International
Amnesty International has appointed Salil Shetty, an Indian who headed the UN Millennium Campaign, as its next secretary general. Shetty takes over the job in June 2010, succeeding Irene Khan who stepped down after eight years as Amnesty Secretary General on Dec 31, 2009. Amnesty - the global human rights watchdog - said Shetty, with a strong track record in the non-government and inter-government sectors, will lead its 50th anniversary...
More »Wishing well for poor by Sreelatha Menon
A letter from SC commissioners was followed by an order of the apex court to clothe, feed and protect the homeless in night shelters The winner gets trophies, but the losers, who are the majority, are ignored. What happens to them? The political masters, for instance, are winners in a way. At least they win elections. They get to be affluent and move with the wealthy, again a victory of sorts. That...
More »NABARD sanctions Rs. 1.15 crore for National Agro Foundation by Ramya Kannan
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs.1.15 crore from its Farmers Technology Transfer Fund to the National Agro Foundation (NAF), NABARD’s Managing Director K.G. Karmakar announced on Saturday. Speaking at a function in Illedu village, Kancheepuram, to observe the birth centenary of the former statesman, C. Subramanian, he said the funds had been sanctioned to the NAF to help farmers access new technologies. NABARD was interested...
More »