It is difficult to predict what denouement the spat between the Sheikh Hasina-led Bangladesh Government and Mohammed Yunus, the Noble Laureate, would ultimately reach but it has undoubtedly brought to the fore many pitfalls of the micro-credit system which has so far been hailed as a panacea for poverty alleviation not just in the Third World countries but in many developed nations too. It may be a bit unfair to...

That accountability is vital in a democracy was reinforced at a National Convention of the National Campaign for the People's Right to Information held in Shillong recently… If governments do not investigate corruption, people should have the right and power to do so themselves. When the idea of a people's legal right to information took initial shape in the dusty villages of Rajasthan nearly two decades ago amidst people's struggles for...

The Kerala Human Rights Commission has asked the secretary, Taxes department, for an explanation on a bizarre incident. After the then inspector-general of registration, A.K. Ramakrishnan, retired on March 31, his office and official car were allegedly washed with cowdung-mixed water. Ramakrishnan complained to the commission that this incident took place the very next day, on April 1, and that to dodge the charge that his office was being specifically...

Over the last couple of years, the Delhi government's budgets had focussed largely on beefing up the city's physical infrastructure in time for the Commonwealth Games. With the Games over, the budget for 2011-12, the first presented by Sheila Dikshit, shifted focus to social infrastructure with welfare measures in health and education targetted at the school-going. Welfare measures apart, the budget cited environmental concerns to hike Taxes on diesel vehicles and...

57 lakh tonnes of ore purchased from unlicensed dealers The Department of Mines and Geology has initiated proceedings to recover Rs. 600 crore from iron ore exporters for buying a staggering 57 lakh tonnes of ore from unlicensed dealers since 2003-04. According to sources in Hospet, the scam came to light when the Department of Mines and Geology tapped the offices of the Commercial Taxes Department and verified records. It was found...