-PTI Funding of political parties in the country is “loosely governed” under the law and almost 80 per cent of their total funds escape “scrutiny” owing to lack of required laws in this regard, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said here on Tuesday. Zaidi, while addressing a global conference on the influence of money power in the electoral process, said it was high time that electoral reforms, which entail enactment of...

 -PTI As per World Bank statistics, of the 2.4 billion people who lack access to improved sanitation globally, more than 750 million live in India, with 80% living in rural areas. The World Bank has approved a $1.5 billion (nearly Rs 10,036.5 crore) loan for the ambitious Clean India CAMPAign to support the Indian government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation and...

-The Telegraph Nearly 200 countries this evening reached a climate accord that some analysts have called a "turning point" in human history designed to drive the world towards 100 per cent clean energy. "It's a compromise... but it is a historic accord for the world," said Laurent Fabius, the president of the Paris conference of parties and the French foreign minister. "Our responsibility to history is immense." But others have warned that the...

-The Indian Express It doesn’t have sufficient power and independence, and seems unworkable. The absence of an adequately independent and empowered body to investigate and prosecute allegations of corruption, especially relating to the rich and the powerful, has been a longstanding concern in India. The Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC) relative independence has proved ineffective as it has few resources at its disposal while the CBI, which is relatively empowered, lacks independence —...

-CounterCurrents.org/ ForestRightsAct.com Sunday night, many of us lost a teacher and comrade, and India lost an extraordinary person. Dr. BD Sharma was an IAS officer who began his administrative career as the Collector of Bastar and retired as the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; and then went on, for another 25 years, to be a mass leader of the Bharat Jan Andolan and an influence on countless other platforms...