As the Right to Information Act (RTI) celebrated the sixth year of its coming, there has been much heated discussion, often emotional, of the benefits that it has brought and also the challenges with which it has confronted government. This debate came to a head with the prime minister’s inaugural address to the Annual Convention of the Central Information Commission on October 14. It is accepted in all circles that the...

-PTI A division bench of the Calcutta High Court today referred to the Chief Justice an appeal by Tata Motors challenging an earlier order validating the Singur Act after the state questioned whether it had the jurisdiction to hear the case. Appearing for West Bengal government's industries department, senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee claimed before the division bench comprising Justice K J Sengupta and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that it did not have...

We must not allow the pain and suffering of the Sikh victims to be transformed into a political instrument to mute calls for justice for the ‘other' victims of similarly orchestrated massacres. More than a quarter century on, not much remains of ‘1984' — shorthand for one of the largest pogroms in India's postcolonial history when thousands of Sikhs were massacred in retribution for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination — in...

The Congress govt has drafted a Bill against honour killing. It is called “The Prevention of Crimes in the Name of ‘Honour’ and Tradition Bill”. Strangely, all the acts which find mention in this Bill—murder,coercion, abetting murder—are already punishable The Congress government has drafted a Bill against honour killing. It is called “The Prevention of Crimes in the Name of ‘Honour’ and Tradition Bill”. Strangely, all the acts which find mention...

-The Economic Times   Congress sharpened its attack against BSP, with Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh accusing the Mayawati government of embezzlingMGNREGA funds. In a letter to the chief minister, Ramesh asked the state government to seek a CBI probe into "violations and cases of deliberate embezzlement of funds" in the implementation of the Centre's flagship programme.  Ramesh pointed to alleged siphoning of funds earmarked for the rural employment guarantee scheme in seven...