-The Hindu The West Bengal government plans to bring in a bill on reservation in government jobs for those belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC). Announcing this after a Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said although the previous government essayed a similar initiative and tried to pass legislation, the effort fell through as the Governor declined to sign the bill. “As per a Supreme Court instruction on this matter, it is necessary...

The Union home ministry has identified bureaucrats who are being “cultivated” by foreign intelligence operatives to push their agenda through the granting of personal favours, such as courses in foreign universities. In a strongly worded note to all secretaries of the Union government, home secretary RK Singh has asked heads of departments to restrain bureaucrats from hobnobbing with foreign embassies in India. While promising to take action against officials who have been...

The Comptroller and Auditor-General has slammed the Narendra Modi government for financial irregularities, particularly for mismanagement of public sector undertakings, resulting in losses of over Rs. 16,000 crore. It has come down heavily on the state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for extending “undue benefits” to the Chief Minister's “favoured few,” mainly Adani Energy and Essar Steel companies, which coupled with its poor management and faulty agreements on exploration of oil...

-The Times of India   Providing fodder to the CBIprobing the various land allotments in the state during the YSR government, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has concluded that the Andhra Pradesh government Doled out thousands of acres of government land to private individuals on an ad hoc and arbitrary manner without safeguarding the interests of the state. The CAG report for the year ending March 31, 2011, was tabled in...

The ongoing debate over the incidence of poverty in India, often assuming surreal proportions, shows that there is indeed a ‘philosophy of poverty’ guiding current economic reforms. The loot of our country’s resources that is taking place both through these reforms, which continue to widen gross inequalities, and through the open plunder of our resources for private gain — as reflected in the series of mega scams — require the legitimacy...