It explicitly names newspapers and channels — including some of the biggest groups in the country — seen as having indulged in the “paid news” practice. The report traces the emergence of the paid news phenomenon over years and phases Seeks a pro-active role from the Election Commission in initiating action against offenders “The phenomenon of ‘paid news' goes beyond the corruption of individual journalists and media companies. It has become pervasive,...

The annual United Nations forum on indigenous issues opened today with a call from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for Member States to promote development while respecting the values and traditions of indigenous peoples. “The loss of irreplaceable cultural practices and means of artistic expression makes us all poorer, wherever our roots may lie,” Mr. Ban told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. This year’s theme at the forum is...

An inquiry committee appointed by the Supreme Court to look into the functioning of the public distribution system has just turned in a damning report to the effect that the system is riddled with corruption and has virtually collapsed in some states. This observation will not come as a surprise to most people. Indeed, it is not a coincidence that even the Central government’s own Economic Survey mentions the need...

The central vigilance committee led by retired Justice D. P. Wadhwa, which was established by the Supreme Court of India to monitor its orders in the PIL on the right to food, has come out with a strong indictment of the public distribution system (PDS). Based on State-level reports for Delhi, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Karnataka, the committee has identified widespread corruption at different levels of the...

The Central budget of 2010-11 is a further step in the realisation of a vision of India vibrant with the income, wealth, saving, education and the entrepreneurial energy of the top 5-10 per cent of the population and the rest of Indians, serving that minority and surviving as barely literate, malnourished multitude.  With the accession of Rajiv Gandhi to power, a vision began to germinate. That vision was that of...