Over 75 activists protested in front of the Red Cross building here on Friday demanding protection from the government in the wake of the murder of Chennai-based RTI activist S Bhuvaneshwaran. The group also submitted a memorandum to the district collector, a copy of which has been forwarded to the cell of chief minister J Jayalalithaa. Demanding a solatium for the family of Bhuvaneshwaran, the RTI activists also sought the arrest...

Up against a formidable line-up of Army officials who were members of an inquiry panel that ended up taking away her job, a victim of alleged sexual harassment by the principal of an Army Public School in Jaipur came knocking on Defence Minister A.K. Antony's door here on Tuesday seeking justice. She was accompanied by the former MP and Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat and...

Central government officials will not be empanelled for promotions if they fail to meet the deadline for submitting their annual property returns to the government. The Centre, in an office memorandum issued today, has instructed central secretariat service officers to submit annual immovable property returns for the calendar year 2011 by the end of this month. Officers, particularly class ‘A’ officers, “who do not submit the property returns by the prescribed time...

-The Hindu   Governor H.R. Bhardwaj on Monday alleged that officers in the Lokayukta were being gradually transferred and old cases “whitewashed” taking advantage of the vacuum in the premier investigation agency in the State. Speaking to presspersons at Raj Bhavan after conferring doctorate degrees on two eminent scientists, the Governor maintained that the standoff between him and Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on the appointment of Lokayukta had not created any constitutional...

-The Telegraph   New laws are often brought in without assessing their judicial and financial impact. The result is poor implementation, says Seetha Call it collateral damage. According to newspaper reports, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has written to the Prime Minister asking for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to be put on hold during the peak season of agricultural operations. With a guaranteed income of Rs 100 a day for at...