Former DoT Secretary Behura and Raja's aide Chandolia also taken into custody, to be produced in court today The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday arrested the former Union Communications and Information Technology Minister, A. Raja, and two officers who had worked under him, for their role in the grant of licences and allocation of 2G spectrum during 2008 in violation of established guidelines and procedures. Mr. Raja (47), as well...

It is tragic that the same government that gives huge corporate concessions and loses money in corruption is fighting over minimum wages. As India's — and by some reckoning the world's — largest rights-based rural safety net programme completes five years, here is a reality check. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has become the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). But in a monumental affront to the...

The debate over food security is becoming an exercise in callow dissimulation, where we devote our energies to ensure that food security remains a mirage. The core objective should be simple. It is a scandal that after two decades of high growth, India still does not make adequate nutrition available to large sections of the population. There is simply no financial, technological or production related reason why this should be...

In its bid to put in place a concrete anti-corruption mechanism, the government has asked the chief justices of all 21 high courts in the country to fast track pending graft-related cases by ensuring decisions are taken within a definite time period. Following the setting up of a nine-member group of ministers (GoM) to finalise a framework to tackle corruption, law minister M Veerappa Moily, in his letter to the...

As government, corporates seek to engage with NGOs, they gain new significance Brave NGO World?     * The Planning Commission is courting NGOs for policy inputs, views on how to make plans work     * NGOs and local activism forced govt to stall Vedanta, Posco plans     * NGO opposition to snacks being served in schools changed plans to scrap hot meals     * NGO have made the government rethink the Polavaram dam project    ...