Mahesh Kundu paid 2,500 rupees for a driving licence, Rupam Bhatia 5,000 rupees to be admitted to hospital and Vishrant Chandra 6,000 rupees for a marriage certificate. These are the commonplace bribery stories experienced by middle-class Indians who have poured into the streets to say "enough is enough". Corruption in India is as old as the Ramayana, when the evil demon Ravana bribed a guardian of hell to avoid punishment in...

The centre of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) scam has shifted from Suresh Kalmadi to Sheila Dikshit, the high-profile Delhi Chief Minister who brought the Congress electoral victory three times consecutively in the capital. And it’s not only because the BJP is demanding her head in return for offering BS Yeddyurappa’s in Karnataka. Two reports on the conduct (or misconduct) of the Commonwealth Games — one by VK Shunglu and another by the...

Reforms in the supply-chain system can help India tackle the demand-supply mismatch in essential food items Food inflation may have dropped to single digit but since that fall is set against last year’s elevated double-digit base, it continues to hurt the poor — 65 per cent of their disposable income goes towards food. The government often defends its failure to tame inflation by arguing that it has no magic wand to...

-NDTV   The report of the government's auditor - the Comptroller and Auditor General - has been tabled in Parliament. Among those it faults for Mismanagement are Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and the Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna. These are the highlights of the 800-page report:     * There are 33 audited entities; 33 chapters, 743 pages       * The unique challenge of monitoring activities of multiple agencies should have been met...

ASHOK AGARWAL, a Senior Advocate practising in the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court, has been litigating for the right of education, primarily for those belonging to the weaker sections of society. In fact, even before the actual enactment of the Right to Education Bill, he had campaigned forcefully among policymakers to reinforce the link between out-of-school children and child labour. He was involved in several rounds of discussions...