While diversion rates still remain high, evidence seems to point to substantial improvements in the public distribution system around the country. It is well understood that a substantial proportion of the grain, mainly wheat and rice, that is meant to be distributed to eLIGible families under the Public Distribution System (PDS) ends up being sold in the open market by corrupt intermediaries, including some dealers who manage PDS outlets. The extent...

But impractical demands under Act will be counter-productive The right to information is a cherished right. Information and the right to information are intended to be formidable tools in the hands of responsible citizens to fight corruption and to bring about transparency and accountability, the Supreme Court has held. A Bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik gave this ruling (briefly reported on August 10) while allowing disclosure of answer sheets...

-IANS   Gandhian Anna Hazare has appealed to the nation to turn off the LIGhts for an hour on August 15 in a gesture meant to give momentum to their indefinite hunger strike from the next day. Team Hazare has been granted a spot adjacent to the Firoz Shah Kotla Ground in the capital to hold its protest from August 16. "On Aug 15, at 7 pm, Anna will appeal to the nation...

Just when they seem to be hurtling towards confrontation, Congress has successfully reached out to the Anna Hazare camp, persuading the civil society activists to appear before the standing committee on law and justice. Activist Arvind Kejriwal confirmed to TOI that he along with his colleagues have accepted the invite from the parliamentary panel led by Congress's Abhishek Singhvi and will attend the deliberations on Wednesday. Gandhian Anna Hazare, former law...

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...