The lone Indian activist on the 2011 TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, Aruna Roy has been more successful than most,  when it comes to getting the government’s attention. The Chennai-born former bureaucrat who was an instrumental force behind the revolutionary Right to Information Act has also been credited by the government for “incorporating strong citizen entitlements” in the ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). A constant...

In a move that would usher in greater transparency, the Central Information Commission (CIC) ordered that legal opinion sought internally by the government can be made public.   The decision is also significant because it could compound the political problems of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which is impacted by a series of allegations of corruption, some of which have been revealed through filing of queries under Right to Information (RTI). The...

The popular impression is that starvation deaths happen mainly because the information about potential victims fails to reach authorities. But can it amount to murder if a starvation death is caused despite adequate warning? A recent Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) report tells us a story of corruption and negligence leading to starvation and death in Odisha. Worse still is the fact that many more villagers await the same fate...

Wary of a political backlash after its campaign against Congress in last year's Hisar Lok Sabha by-poll and the lukewarm response to Anna Hazare's Mumbai stir, Team Anna is divided on whether to extend the anti-Congress movement to poll-bound states. Team Anna's concerns increased after BJP was severely criticized for accepting former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha into its fold and Congress asked whether the activists will turn their guns towards...

-IANS The Delhi High Court Wednesday refused to hear a plea filed by Swiss Timing, an accused in a corruption case linked to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to stay possible action against it by the trial judge for not appearing in court. Justice Mukta Gupta refused to give any relief to the Switzerland-based firm and said: 'There cannot be a stay on the trial court proceedings.' Swiss Timing is an accused in a...