-BBC   A report on a controversial bill to set up an anti-corruption watchdog has been submitted in India's parliament. The bill was tabled in parliament in August but was sent to a panel of MPs after protests from anti-corruption activists who said it was too weak. Anti-corruption CAMPAigner Anna Hazare has rejected the new draft too, saying it does not go far enough as it does not include lower-level bureaucracy. He has announced plans...

Its eye on the UP Assembly elections, the Centre is going to package the reservation for backward Muslims being planned out of the 27 per cent OBC quota as part of a series of reservation measures, covering a large bracket of beneficiaries. Apart from designating the quota for Muslims as part of a larger reservation for “minorities”, the UPA government is planning to promise a quota for “the most backward”...

Assailed from all sides, does the UPA really hope to recover its ‘image’ by muzzling online dissent? Kapil Sibal ko gussa kyon aata hai? Butt of online jokes: Politicians in 'tweaked' cinematic avatars. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. The UPA government has made it something of a fine art. Hardly had the ruckus over the decision to open up the retail sector to FDI died down than...

Nearly 11 children go missing in India every hour and at least four of them are never found, according to a study by a child rights organisation. The report by Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) covers 392 of India's 640 districts and is the first such comprehensive study on the subject. The data was compiled over two years from January 2008 to January 2010. The report says most of the missing children end up...

 Standing on the shimmering white beach and gazing out at the turquoise blue waters of the Arabian sea, it is hard to believe that a decade ago this international tourist destination was under siege by mounting heaps of garbage. But Kovalam, about 12 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, capital of southern Kerala state, has been declared a ‘zero waste area’ by a women’s self-help group (SHG) which is engaged in recycling waste...