-The Times of India Every month, the Delhi government spends Rs 20 crore of taxpayers' money to provide security to 436 persons, who do not hold any constitutional post and 29 of whom face criminal case, the Supreme Court was informed on Wednesday. The annual tab comes to Rs 240 crore. As against this, the government spends just a little over Rs 3 crore a month to protect the President and Rashtrapati...

-The Economic Times India may have policy of preferring free and open source applications, but still the world's largest software maker Microsoft and others, including Adobe, Norton and McAfee, have managed to weasel their way into some of the largest government purchases in the country's history. Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are in the process of procuring over eight million laptops preloaded with proprietary software in clear violation of India's national...

-Outlook A National Action Plan is being prepared to prevent child marriages, Women and Child Development Minister of Krishna Tirath said today. While there has been a reduction in number of child marriages in the country, the social evil still existed in states like Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, she told Rajya Sabha. "Child marriages continue to take place at some places in Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh... It is also prevalent in...

-The Indian Express With the Union cabinet having approved the Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 (hereafter referred to as the GR bill), Parliament has an opportunity to enact a law that would give citizens a way in which to hold government functionaries accountable. An effective GR act has the potential to transform the relationship between an ordinary Indian...

-The Business Standard States often misuse emergency powers to muzzle protests from owners A new land acquisition law was on the anvil for years. The latest avatar of the Bill, not yet laid on the table of Parliament, is still being re-looked and reworked with nearly 160 changes proposed. Issues are many, like the "public purpose" fig leaf, the consent clause, sharing the compensation payment, resettlement and rehabilitation of the displaced people...