Traversing 20 states of India the Yatra had a three point agenda: Food, Farmers, Freedom. On December 11, while the bulk of yatris were at Raj Ghat, their representatives went to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The list of demands they submitted provides a bird's eye view to the war that is now taking shape. Proponents of Kisan Swaraj want both the government and private sector to, among other things: 1. Stop treating...

Saikat Dutta of The Outlook magazine and Vinita Kamte, wife of killed Mumbai police officer Ashok Kamte, are among the seven winners of this year's National RTI Awards, announced on Monday by the Public Cause Research Foundation. The foundation also organised a ceremony to honour the 10 RTI activists who were killed this year. The awards were decided by a jury consisting, among others, of Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy; the former...

Congress President Sonia Gandhi's five-point plan to counter corruption, announced during the recent plenary session of the party and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the spectrum scam are, on paper, reasonable measures aimed at reversing the toll the series of scams and controversies have taken on the government. But without concrete action and setting up of mechanisms which can effectively implement counter-corruption...

When we talk of India's mammoth work force, be it in rural or urban scenarios, what comes to mind is the 'unorganised' sector. They form the multitudes that do not 'belong' to a sector governed by a slew of measures in accordance with labour laws or employment terms defined by policy measures. These are the multitudes, which fall outside the ambit of Central Government legislation pertaining to wages and salaries....

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered Monday to appear before a committee investigating a telecommunications scandal that has rocked India’s political establishment. He rejected claims by opposition parties that he had been trying to avoid any questioning. “I wish to state categorically that I have nothing to hide from the public at large,” Mr. Singh said on the final day of a plenary session of the Indian National Congress Party. “As proof...