-Tehelka The sentencing of Wall Street wizard Rajat Gupta in the historic insider trading case has led to the fall of a one-time icon for many Indians “This is where destiny is taking me.” This is what former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director, Rajat Gupta, told old friend Pramod Bhasin, as he sat with a glass of scotch in hand, in a mid-town bar in New York. Little did Gupta know how prophetic...

-Mid Day Senior PWD officials in collusion with contractors used bogus bills to issue cheques to withdraw state funds from RBI; cops took six months to register FIR despite complaint in April.  Mumbai: One of the biggest scams in recent times has come to light at the state administration level, involving senior officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) and fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 112.58 crore from government accounts.  It is said that bogus...

-The Times of India Everyone agrees that India needs to deliver social protection to the aam admi; the forthcoming Food Security Bill is one such attempt. Everyone also agrees that the government service delivery pipelines are riddled with leakages and largescale corruption. Direct cash transfers have been proposed as a way to remedy this defective system. However, as could be expected, the debate has become polarised, with one side believing that cash...

-The Hindu The Delhi High Court order dismissing a challenge to the Bus Rapid Transit System in the national capital is praiseworthy for its assertion that the urban commons, represented by road space, is a public good. The judgment correctly observes that governments pursue the principal purpose of promoting welfare of the maximum number of people, rather than distributing public goods in a restrictive manner. Delightfully, the court makes short work...

-Outlook Journalistic activities should be kept out of the purview of the proposed right to privacy law, a government appointed expert panel has suggested. The group headed by retired Justice A P Shah, in its report, suggested that publication of personal data for artistic and journalistic purposes need not be considered as infringement of privacy under the proposed legislation. Besides, the group suggested that government could exempt application of privacy law in case...