Cracking the whip on officers, who have failed to declare their immovable property, the Centre has recommended "appropriate action" against 454 Class 'A' officers, including eight joint secretaries and 44 directors, that may not only delay their promotion but also invite adverse remarks in their annual performance appraisal reports. Out of these 454 Central Secretariat Service Officers, the highest number of defaulters are from the department of agriculture and cooperation (58)...

-The Times of India   KENDRAPADA: An England-based NRI will make a documentary on the protests by seaside villagers of Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang against the proposed Posco steel plant. The film-maker, Prafulla MoHAnty (74), is from Nanpur village, 20 km from here. MoHAnty, also a writer and painter, visited several villages in the area to make the film recently. "I will also write a book on the anti-land acquisition movement," MoHAnty said. "Through...

Inequality in India is worsening and clearly following the US pattern India is a “relatively low-income inequality country” – to borrow an expression from a World Bank publication – when compared to China or Brazil, but there is no doubt that disparities have been widening of late. Planning Commission officials have admitted that inequality has risen in the first decade of the new millennium, although the factors responsible for it need...

-Rediff.com Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju on Saturday said anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare lacks the scientific ideas that are needed to solve the problem of graft. The PCI chairman also took a dig at the media for "hyping" up issues such as the 100th century of Sachin Tendulkar, retirement of Rahul Dravid, pregnancy of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and death of film star Dev Anand. "This Anna Hazare movement, I have not spoken...

-The Times of India Diversion of foreign contribution by NGOs is not limited to the 12 organizations whose cases were referred for probe recently. The muck, in fact, runs much deeper with official figures showing that the government has taken action against at least 160 voluntary bodies, including referring 24 cases to CBI and seven to different state police for investigation in the past three years. Besides, 70 NGOs have been prohibited...