-The Hindu Cleansing political parties and elections of illegal money is the first step towards tackling the evil of graft Corruption is nothing but a reflection of the distribution of power within societies. The country is where it is because the political system is self-perpetrating and no party is accountable to anyone except a coterie of people that dominates all decisions. Unless the political system is accountable, going after individual cases of...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today dared the Centre to enact a law to prohibit retired judges or bureaucrats from taking up post-retirement positions in commissions or other government undertakings. A bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar threw down the gauntlet when additional solicitor-general A.S. Chandiok suggested “there should be no post-retirement employment”. The law officer also asked the court to review its September 12 judgment that only sitting or retired...

-The Times of India The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has asked the oil ministry not to approve any more investments in Reliance Industries's KG-D6 oil and gas block till the company submits all records of its spending in the Andhra offshore field till 2011-12 for scrutiny. In a November 9 letter to the ministry, a top CAG functionary also suggested a similar action for the Panna-Mukta and Tapti (PMT) group...

-The United Nations International investments must give local farmers and active role and leave them in control of their land if they are to have a positive effect on the host country’s economy and advance development, according to a report released today by the United Nations food agency. Produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the report – Trends and Impacts of Foreign Investment in Developing Country Agriculture – emphasizes...

-The Hindu Kerala’s Kudumbashree network and the rural employment guarantee scheme have converged to provide a unique model of empowerment An incredible story of empowerment has been unfolding in the wake of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) programme in the State of Kerala. This is the story of how a socially engineered convergence of the scheme with panchayati raj institutions and the State sponsored community network of poor...