The idea of the first Jan Lokpal Bill dates back to as early as 1969, yet this democratic bill was always denied by the pseudo democratic government of India for the last 42 years. None of the Lokpal bills introduced again and again in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2008 passed the approval nod of our great Indian leaders simply because it threatened the supreme powers...

Revelations by the WikiLeaks are having a positive impact, believes its founder Julian Assange, who claims that the publication of secret US embassy cables by the Indian media had helped inspire an anti-graft movement in the country. Questioned at a public debate about the whistleblowing organisation's own transparency, Assange told an audience of 700 people, many of them supporters: "We are directly supported on a week-to-week basis by you. You vote...

Cash transfer as substitute for state service provision is a dangerous recipe for callously anti-poor and corrupt governance. THE staggering number of recent articles, papers and books on the virtues of giving cash in place of public services to the poor has created an impression that a sort of epidemic has broken out. Economists, policymakers, bureaucrats and newspaper commentators are all infected by it and are in turn infecting others. The central...

The last rites of Ajit Bhattacharjea, one of the towering figures of Indian media, were performed here on Tuesday after a large number of his friends and admirers paid rich tributes to him. Mr. Bhattacharjea, a leading figure of the right to information movement, died at his Panchsheel Enclave residence on Monday after prolonged illness. He was 87. The last rites were performed by his son at the Lodhi Crematorium. BJP leader L.K....

Dantewada District Collector R. Prasanna has announced a probe into allegations of the police and paramilitary forces burning homes, molesting three women and killing at least three men in an operation early this month. On Wednesday, The Hindu and Rajasthan Patrika carried news reports in which eyewitnesses accused Chhattisgarh's Koya commandos (an armed tribal police corps) and the Central Reserve Police Force of burning over 300 homes and granaries, sexually assaulting...