One of the great achievements of India is our free and vibrant press. This is an accomplishment of direct relevance to the working of democracy. Authoritarianism flourishes not only by stifling opposition, but also by systematically suppressing information. The survival and flowering of Indian democracy owes a great deal to the freedom and vigour of our press. There are so many occasions when, sitting even in Europe or in America,...

The office of the assistant stamp commissioner here today found Team Anna member Shanti Bhushan guilty of evading stamp duty in purchase of a bungalow in Allahabad’s posh Civil Lines, slapping him with a Rs 27 lakh fine and asking him to deposit Rs 1.32 crore in duty along with interest. Bhushan has been asked to pay the entire amount within a month. Bhushan said the order was “illegal”, and the stamp...

Neglected by conventional banks, low-income women in Satara have set one up themselves. Not long after Chetna Gala Sinha came to the drought-stricken region of Mhaswad in western Maharashtra to marry a farmer and prominent local social activist, she began putting her university degree in finance into action. Local women, she observed, were wearing themselves out in subsistence livelihood such as growing grapes or selling vegetables. In 1992, Chetna, who grew up...

The lone Indian activist on the 2011 TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, Aruna Roy has been more successful than most,  when it comes to getting the government’s attention. The Chennai-born former bureaucrat who was an instrumental force behind the revolutionary Right to Information Act has also been credited by the government for “incorporating strong citizen entitlements” in the ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). A constant...

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered five new cases, including one against the former Family Welfare Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Babu Singh Kushwaha, pertaining to alleged irregularities in the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) funds, leading to a loss of Rs.28 crore to the exchequer. The investigating agency seized valuables, cash and documents during the searches conducted at 60 places in Delhi, U.P, Haryana and Madhya...