-Wall Street Journal Blog The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly. "I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms," said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday. "I won't stay silent. I...

-The Telegraph Thiruvananthapuram: The Centre's move to implement an ecology panel's report on conservation of the Western Ghats has provoked a call for a 48-hour civil disobedience agitation by the Catholic Church in Kerala, starting Sunday midnight. The Church claims the K. Kasturirangan report, notified on Wednesday, will hit the livelihoods of farmers living in the "high ranges" - foothill areas bordering the forests - and force them to relocate. Green activists deny...

-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, it's party time in India. No fewer than 142 political parties have been registered with the Election Commission in the past two months. From 1,392 parties in August-September, the number swelled to 1,534 by mid-November. Godmen, builders, property dealers and retired bureaucrats are among those who have floated the parties, ostensibly to have a say in the world's largest democracy. Election...

-Economic and Political Weekly Despite being the third largest economy in the world by purchasing power party, the living standards of India's underprivileged citizens are probably among the worst in the world. Even its much poorer neighbours, such as Nepal and Bangladesh, have fared better in areas of health and social development. Please click here to download the article. ...

-The Hindu     While it is apparent that due process has been subverted to the advantage of a few by the political executive, it is equally true that there has been some politicisation of the civil service Two recent events have focussed attention on the relationship between the political executive and public servants. At the international conference on corruption organised by the Central Bureau of Investigation on November 11, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...