India continues to be one of the most corrupt nations in the world with many of its public institutions given to rampant misdeeds. Corruption is India's bane and threatens to derail its rapidly growing economy. The country ranks a dismal 84th in a list of 180 countries, according to Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index, a measure of domestic and public sector corruption. The corruption watchdog says that many African,...

Noting that the Right to Information (RTI) Act has ushered in the beginning of participatory governance, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said the movement must be strengthened at all levels and the support of the government, civil society and citizens was vital for its success. Delivering the inaugural address at the first “National RTI Awards-2009” organised by Public Cause Research Foundation and NDTV here, Mr. Ansari said: “I must confess...

It was to be a somber memorial, a remembrance of those who perished in a lethal milky fog. To mark the 25th anniversary of the world's worst industrial disaster, authorities planned to open up the now-dilapidated shell of the Union Carbide fertilizer plant, where in the wee hours of December 3, 1984, 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas oozed out onto the sleeping city of Bhopal, India. About 4,000 people died instantly...

TWENTY-ONE judges of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI), posted the details of their assets on the court’s website. The details of assets of one judge, Justice H.S. Bedi, have not yet been provided. Justice B.N. Agrawal, who retired recently, also provided the details of his assets on the website on special request. (The details are available at http:// www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/assets.htm.) The court has claimed that the...

Is drought being used as an excuse to delay the national Food Security Act? An informal network of organizations and individuals involved in the Right to Food Campaign believe so. The campaign groups are demanding that a national consultative process on an improved draft bill must be started immediately so that the proposed Food Security Act could be passed as soon as possible. The campaigners also demand that exports of...