The Centre is mulling summary dismissal of public servants chargesheeted for corruption. The move will ensure that government will not have to wait for long-drawn court battle to sack officials found guilty of corruption. But it is to be seen if such a provision will extend to politicians who are classified as "public servants" in the anti-graft law. A GoM on tackling corruption will take a call on the issue while hammering...

Twenty years ago, a Maruti 800, with an air-conditioner fitted, cost a little less than Rs 2 lakh. Today it costs about Rs 2.5 lakh. Twenty years ago, a branded 1.5 tonne window air-conditioner cost about Rs 30,000; today, you can get a split AC unit for that price. Then, Videocon was offering large refrigerators for more than Rs 30,000; you can get better units today for much less. TV...

Calling it a “fraudulent and politically-motivated judgment,” the Forum of Artists, Cultural Activists and Intellectuals condemned here on Monday the life imprisonment given to activist Binayak Sen by a court in Chhattisgarh and demanded his “unconditional release.” Dr. Sen, Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal and city-based businessman Pijush Guha were sentenced to life on December 24 by a Raipur sessions court, which found them guilty of criminal conspiracy to commit sedition under...

In the capital of migrants, crime and loose tongues that is Delhi, it wasn’t unusual that Union home minister P. Chidambaram made the lazy connection that migrants are responsible for the city’s rising crime graph. After all, chief minister Sheila Dikshit has also done that before—only to recant when it was met with outrage, the way Chidambaram eventually did. That leaders at Chidambaram’s and Sheila’s level could be so simplistic...

Since the last few years, Prashan Bhushan, senior lawyer, has fired up the Indian political scene through his missionary legal practice.In the legal fraternity he is a loner because he is, always, on the wrong side of the power set up in New Delhi. In fact, when one meets the slow and soft-speaker, he hardly looks like a lawyer who is capable of shaking-up the government and its cronies.But, his...