In the light of fact finding report submitted recently by the Union rural development secretary B K Sinha on the rampant corruption and irregularities in the implementation of the projects under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee, the Centre has warned the Jharkhand government that it would be compelled to discontinue to release funds for rural job guarantee projects under MGNREGS.. In consequence of Centre’s warning, the state government has decided...

Punjab's attempts at diversification from water-guzzling paddy hasn’t made much headway. With looming desertification and reverse flow from water-logged blocks having brackish groundwater to areas where the groundwater table is fast depleting, the need to diversify has been underlined since long. Even in a lean monsoon year (2009), there was a record harvest of the crop. Its acreage did not fall even last year when a major part of the paddy...

This paper was presented at the Regional Workshop on War on Terror and Asian Democracy 17 May 2011, Kim Dae-Jung Convention Centre, South Korea organised by Solidarity for Democratization Movement in Asia (SDMA) Introduction In the discourse on terrorism and counter terrorism, September 11 stands as a watershed because of the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001. Government of India (GoI) also took full advantage of the ‘War on Terror’...

On the basis of fact finding report from the Union rural development secretary B K Sinha on rampant corruption and irregularities in operation of rural job schemes in several districts in Jharkhand under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA), the Centre has discontinued in releasing funds to seven districts in the state in the current financial year 2011-12. MGNREGA commissioner in Jharkhand A K Singh confirmed that seven districts –...

Certain provisions in the rules notified under the IT Act cause concern about the security of sensitive personal information. ON April 11, the Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology notified new rules under the Information Technology Act, 2000, to regulate the use of the Internet. This led to widespread apprehensions that the government and private persons might gain free access to sensitive personal information concerning Internet users. The government, however,...