Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai in his address to recruits at the National Police Academy sought to enlist them in his campaign. BAGEHOT'S classic explains why and how a genre of civil servants mushroomed in India latterly as executive power, authority and prestige declined. None of them had earlier revealed a particularly strong spine. T.N. Seshan bared his traits once he was appointed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). Others need not...

The Election Commission has turned down Team Anna's proposal to amend the law to introduce the “right to recall” option against non-performing elected representatives through a referendum, stating that the move would bring “instability” and “hamper developmental activities.” Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and Election Commissioners V.S. Sampath and H.S. Brahma told Team Anna members — Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi — that such a...

-The Economic Times   A giant statue in a Lucknow square made 12-year-old Rashi curious. Whose statue is this, she asked her father. Although a BSP worker, Jhanki Ram couldn't go beyond the name, Jyotiba Phule. But not wanting to show his ignorance, he added, "He was a Mahatma who did a lot for the dalit community". Both had come from Etawah to take part in Kanshiram Parinirvan functions this month. For...

Primary education was made compulsory through a central Act a year and a half earlier, but that’s done little to raise the quality of teaching or learning in schools. Several students of class III were not able to read texts of class I, teachers were missing from classrooms, and the government derives achievement from enrolment without factoring in attendance, found a report published by non-profit body Pratham with support from UNESCO...

The contentious issue of finance will be among the key items that will take centrestage at the UN-sponsored climate talks in Durban. Predictable and continuous funding to undertake steps to tackle climate change lies at the core of a balanced global deal. At the pre-conference meeting, South Africa said that the Durban meet should go beyond operationalising the Green Climate Fund agreed on at the Cancun meet. Pretoria indicated that...