-The Telegraph   The comptroller and auditor general today began a performance audit of the rural job scheme in 12 states, including Bengal, amid allegations of widespread corruption hobbling India’s largest social sector programme. The idea is to see whether the scheme has indeed secured villagers’ livelihood by providing guaranteed employment, and whether rules have been followed in its implementation. For instance, at least 60 per cent of the expenditure on every project under...

To understand the role which the media should be playing in India we have to first understand the historical context. India is presently passing through a transitional period in its history: a transition from a feudal agricultural society to a modern industrial society. This is a very painful and agonising period. The old feudal society is being uprooted and torn apart; but the new, modern, industrial society has not yet been...

-IANS   They may not be starving, but by American standards some 46.2 million people live in poverty today, more than at any other time in American history, erasing gains made in reducing poverty during the 1990s, according to a new study.  Compared to the 1990s they are more likely to be white, live in the Midwest, have a high school diploma and own a home, according to shows, the Brookings Institution, a...

Coming months ‘crucial' The International Labour Organisation has warned that a jobs crisis caused by the slowdown in the global economy threatens a wave of widespread social unrest engulfing both rich and poor countries. Highlighting the darkening prospects for employment, the Geneva-based ILO said policymakers were running out of time to head off a double-dip recession in labour markets. “We have reached the moment of truth,” said Raymond Torres, director of the...

-The Hindu   Writes to Manmohan Singh seeking more teeth to council Press Council Chairman Markandey Katju has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggesting that the electronic media be brought under its purview. He has also sought “more teeth” to the council. “I have written to the PM that the electronic media should be brought under the Press Council and it should be called Media Council and we should be given more teeth....