-The Economic Times   The special court's verdict in the communal killings in Ode and the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) closure of investigation in the Gulberg Society massacre - after finding no evidence to prosecute CM Narendra Modi and top political leaders, bureaucrats and police officers - highlight the laboriousness of delivering some measure of justice to the victims of the carnage in Gujarat in 2002.  The SIT's report is by no means...

-The Hindu   The United Progressive Alliance government has not delivered on its promise of bringing in legislation against communal violence. After initial talks, the Centre has fallen silent on the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill which needs speedy tabling, a panel comprising drafters of the legislation said at a meeting here on Friday. “Not just the leadership, but the executive too have failed to give...

Many people including members of Team Anna have expressed reservations about the way in which their campaign has been developing, and some have even resigned. This raises questions about the real aim of the leadership around Anna. Is it really what it is proclaimed to be? Is the aim to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed by parliament? Team Anna has repeatedly stated that they have just a one-point agenda: to get...

What kept Prime Minister Manmohan Singh busy after securing minister A Raja’s resignation on the night of November 14 last year?   He was writing a reply to National Advisory Council chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s letter on the practice of manual scavenging. On November 15, he wrote to her that he was asking the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment to “examine how to strengthen” implementation of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and...

-The Hindu   Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday criticised the Central government for seeking to reduce States into the status of “glorified municipal corporations.” In her address to the National Development Council, which met in New Delhi, the Chief Minister, whose speech was read out by Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam in absentia, said that the NDC was a forum to consult with State Chief Ministers, as equal partners in the process...