-The Hindu Most people remain at the mercy of a venal administration that, encouraged by the absence of an independent watchdog, exploits them relentlessly   The state of affairs in the country is characterised by rampant corruption at all levels leading to a breakdown in the rule of law and lack of accountability all around. One can say that there is a complete collapse of governance in the country. Something drastic needs to...

-The Hindustan Times In a clear indication of growing unease within the Congress party over last week's anti-naxal operation in Chhattisgarh in which 19 alleged Maoists were killed, tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo on Tuesday termed the action "completely unacceptable". Deo's comments echo the Chhattisgarh Congress state unit's view that the encounter by the state police and the CRPF in Bijapur district was "completely fake". Deo said he will raise the...

-Down to Earth   Buy an Indian breed from Australia In June last year, we visited Malaysia on the invitation of the country’s oldest and most active consumer action group, The Consumer Association of Penang, to study the livestock production systems and to advise on how these can be transformed into more sustainable and less industrial farming systems. The past 40 years of aggressive industrial growth in Malaysia has seen small-scale peasant agriculture and...

-The Telegraph When the deadly gas was spreading havoc in Bhopal, Arjun Singh was hundreds of miles away — praying. Hours after the leaking methyl isocyanate gas had left a trail of death in the Madhya Pradesh capital, the state’s then chief minister had taken a flight to Allahabad, where he visited the chapel of his childhood school to pray for “moral courage”. The startling revelation comes in Arjun’s yet-to-be-released memoirs, A Grain...

-The Indian Express Amid conflicting reports about the identity of the 19 alleged Maoists who were killed by security forces in Chhattisgarh last Friday, the Congress on Monday sought to tread cautiously saying tribals should not become “victims in the cross-fire” between Naxals and security forces.   “Tribals should not become victims of the cross fire between security forces and Naxals. They should be protected at all costs. As many as 900 tribal...