-NDTV   The report of the government's auditor - the Comptroller and Auditor General - has been tabled in Parliament. Among those it faults for mismanagement are Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and the Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna. These are the highlights of the 800-page report:     * There are 33 audited entities; 33 chapters, 743 pages       * The unique challenge of monitoring activities of multiple agencies should have been met...

Poor, pregnant with third child? Even the state’s giving up on you. Why Less For More     * The ministry of health and family welfare wants to target poor, pregnant women with more than two children, take away entitlements and benefits     * Critics say the two-child norm will severely restrict the number of beneficiaries of the Janani Suraksha Yojana scheme. The scheme, launched in 2005, has been a great success.     *...

The announcement last weekend by the prime minister that an independent National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Agency (NEAMA) would shortly be set up has been welcomed in the media. The PM indicates that it would be staffed by professionals, will set up a new process for environmental appraisal of projects, and monitor the observance of environmental management plans. It would be a recommendatory body, subject to final decision-making by the...

Matter begins: What is the impact of the National Rural Employment Guarentee Act on rural wages? That is the question that the pundits are asking today. It's a query which feeds into a larger question. Six years have passed since NREGA became a legal reality. What is its village-level impact? It's a complex question to answer. NREGA undertakes to provide employment to anyone who asks for it. Which makes it...

Delivering the Setalvad Memorial Lecture, on April 16, Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia cautioned the judiciary against exceeding their judicial functions. His remarks are particularly relevant to the increasing tendency of judges of superior courts to issue directions to government, to correct and monitor government’s functions, and to even make policy decisions which are in the domain of government — as if there was no separation of functions between...