In a blow to the Mayawati government, UP Lokayukta N K Mehrotra on Tuesday recommended dismissal of UP minister for dairy and animal husbandry Awadhpal Singh Yadav after finding him guilty of largescale corruption and misuse of office for extending favour to his kin. This is the state's first case where dismissal has been recommended on charges of corruption by the Lokayukta. "The conduct of Awadhpal Singh Yadav is highly mischievous and not...

Has India's battle against corruption become a contest between the tyranny of virtue and the tyranny of the state, as some analysts put it? The police have arrested anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare for pledging to go ahead with a hunger strike against a proposed new anti-corruption law. After nine meetings with the government, Mr Hazare and his supporters cobbled together their version of the Lokpal (Citizen's Ombudsman) bill. He insists that this...

The $12 billion Posco investment in India was supposed to be the biggest FDI project in the country. After six years that still remains on paper Horangineun jugeumyeon gajugeul namgigo, Sarameun jugeumyun ireumeul namginda (When tigers die, they leave behind leather. When people die, they leave their names behind) —Old Korean Proverb The news flash from Press Trust of India came on July 10, 2011. Posco, the $32 billion South Korean steel giant had decided to...

The battle lines are drawn: it is the government versus "civil society" in India now. A controversial anti-corruption bill has been tabled in parliament, and a showdown with "civil society" representatives, backed by an energetic section of the media, looms. After months of wrangling with activists led by folksy anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare, the government says it has cobbled together the best possible legislation. It is called the Lokpal bill but Mr Hazare...

After the brutal murder of Azad, is there any hope for well-meaning routine calls for “dialogue” and “peace talks”? What can the "civil society" do as a serious, real intervention? It is reported that the decades-old talks with Naga insurgent groups has made some progress recently (See “Differences ‘narrowed’,” Times of India, July 19, 2011). One reason why talks have a chance in these cases is that separatism comes in...