The incarceration of Binayak Sen reminded me of the sophist philosopher Thrasymachus's definition of justice in Plato's Republic. Challenged by Socrates to define justice he says: "I proclaim that might is right, and justice is in the interest of the stronger...The different forms of government make laws, democratic, aristocratic, or autocratic, with a view to their respective interests; and these laws, so made by them to serve their interests, they...

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    ...

On Mahatma Gandhi's martyrdom day citizen groups across India took out a march against Corruption. Several marches were held across several cities against corruption. People from all walks of life, of all age groups came out in the thousands to stand up against corruption. In Delhi, thousands of people walked through heart of the city from Ramlila Ground to Jantar Mantar under the banner of India Against Corruption, and raised slogan...

Somalia is the world's most corrupt nation, according to Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Perception Index. The 2010 CPI shows that nearly three quarters of the 178 countries in the index score below five, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption), indicating a serious corruption problem. New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore are the least corrupt countries in the world, according...