-The Hindustan Times We are a nation holding our breath. Some in eager anticipation, others in ambiguous apprehension or actual terror, but all of us transfixed by the drama of Mr Narendra Modi's arrival. Even those who do not relish the thought of the outcome seem happy to get it over, to put behind us this sad drama of the UPA's strange implosion, the decline, Lear-like, from decisiveness (if wrong-headed at times)...

-The Hindu   The site will feature initiatives in various fields Sangareddy (Andhra Pradesh): The Deccan Development Society (DDS), an NGO based in the district and working on improving the standard of living of farming community as its motto, has taken up another initiative. Along with Kalpavriksh, Shikshantar and Bhoomi College, the DDS has established Vikalp Sangam/ Alternatives India, a website dedicated to the creative work that people across India are doing as alternatives...

-Live Mint   Rights laws offer an important lesson for the new government: you cannot legislate your way out of state failure It is well known that the Indian state suffers from a serious crisis of implementation capability. So deep is this crisis that it cannot even reliably perform the most routine tasks like moving money and getting employees to show up at work. So, it is hardly surprising that rights laws have...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Is our democracy truly representative? Election Commission (EC) data on percentage of votes secured by winning candidates in various constituencies show it may not be so. In the 2009 general elections, only 120 winning candidates out of the 543 could secure 50 per cent or more votes polled in their respective constituencies. This meant that on remaining 423 seats (nearly 78 per cent of seats), the...

-Live Mint Andhra Pradesh's experience with social audits holds important lessons for the Congress's empowerment agenda At the heart of the Congress party's narrative on the rights-based welfare state is the idea that rights laws, to quote Sonia Gandhi, "put pressure on the executive to be more responsive and accountable" and in doing so bring about an "empowerment revolution". To enable this revolution, rights laws have had built into them procedural...