The proposed Jan Lokpal Bill has evoked strong reactions, a number of them emotionally charged. One is struck by the conflicting claims and counter-claims in the media. While it’s hard to determine the truth in such matters, a summary of some of the misgivings and the possible intentions, with an assessment of what possibly is the reality, follows: *The Lokpal is being dubbed as a Leviathan Fear: Being a much too powerful...

-The Times of India   State government officers belonging to scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) —likely to be reverted in light of a Supreme Court order that disapproved of their promotions on basis of quota — have been temporarily debarred by the Rajasthan high court from writing the annual confidential reports of their subordinates. The order came on a bunch of petitions filed by one Rajeev Garg of the state...

Cash transfers are now suggested by many as a silver bullet for addressing the problems that plague India’s anti-poverty programmes. This article argues instead for evidence-based policy and informed public debate to clarify the place, prospects and problems of cash transfers in India. By drawing on key empirical findings from academic and grey literature across the world an attempt is made to draw attention to three aspects of cash transfers...

-PTI   Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Jammu and Kashmir GR Sofi has said all the government institutions and organisations which have public dealing including NGOs come under the purview of the Right to Information Act. "Not only government institutions are accountable under RTI Act but those dealing with public like NGOs and charity trusts are also covered under the Act," Sofi said addressing a workshop on RTI awareness in Budgam district...

International fund floodgates that stayed locked during the Left front regime are now opening up for Mamata Benerjee. Latest in the "parivartan" syndrome is the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which has given the green signal to go along with one of the state's most ambitious roadway projects - the 271 km express corridor connecting North and South Bengal. It is a Rs2,270 crore project, which World Bank had refused to fund in...