India has lost nearly a half-trillion dollars in illegal financial flows out of the country, says a new study by Global Financial Integrity. India is losing nearly Rs.240 crore every 24 hours, on average, in illegal financial flows out of the country. The nation lost $213 billion (roughly Rs.9.7 lakh crore) in illegal capital flight between 1948 and 2008. However, over $125 billion (Rs.5.7 lakh crore) of that was lost in...

Close associates and friends fondly remembered Gandhian social activist L.C. Jain at a prayer meeting held in his memory at the Gandhi Peace Foundation (GPC) here . The former High Commissioner and former Member of the Planning Commission passed away on Sunday after an illness. Separately the Planning Commission passed a resolution at a condolence meeting chaired by Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia recalling Mr. Jain's extraordinary services to the nation....

The opening and closing ceremonies received wide acclaim but left many citizens like me a bit terrified and confused. Now that the terms of inquiry into the conduct of the Commonwealth Games have been extended, let us hope that the process of probe will be more open than was decision-making for the CWG. Let us also hope that the review will cover the opening and closing ceremonies as well, both in...

The Organising Committee (OC) of the Commonwealth Games has got yet another blow vis-à-vis the corruption charges and various probes that it is facing owing to the alleged corruption in the Games and related affairs. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued summons to the OC asking it to submit all documents related to alleged discrepancies in the ticketing, Queen's Baton Relay and the conduct of the Games. The transparency watchdog...

The “paid news syndrome” in the media should be resisted as part of a larger struggle for democratic rights because corruption in the media directly affects the health of democracy. The struggle has to be waged in the context of media's corporatisation, monopolistic trends and structural decline. These views emerged at a day-long seminar on “Abridging Freedom and Fairness of the Media: Combating Challenges,” organised by the Rajasthan Working Journalists' Union,...