-Economic and Political Weekly The anti-corruption movement’s antics have weakened other movements for accountability. The recent fast-unto-death by members of “Team Anna” (a self-proclaimed name which has always sounded pompous even if loved by a media looking for a catchy title) thankfully ended without any calamity on the advice of a group of “eminent” citizens and with a promise to carry on the “movement” in the political sphere. Many commentators have, rightly,...
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The coal allocation mess
-Live Mint The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the allotment of captive coal mines is a scathing narrative on the mis-governance and mismanagement of the country’s natural resources. As early as 2004, the government realized that the then prevailing system of allotment of mines was not transparent. An internal debate kicked off with the coal secretary pushing for a 28 June 2004 deadline for reforms in the...
More »Opinion divided over notifications on tiger reserves -VS Palaniappan
-The Hindu Certain section of population seeks relaxation of ban on tourism; specialists are against any dilution of the scheme The Tamil Nadu Government’s latest notifications on demarcation of core and buffer zones of three tiger reserves in the State may still require a fine-tuning to strike a balance among ecology protection, tribal welfare and tourism promotion, feel conservationists and wildlife experts. As the demand for relaxation of the ban on tourism becomes...
More »Judicial appointments & disappointments -VR Krishna Iyer
-The Hindu The Constitution of India operates in happy harmony with the instrumentalities of the executive and the legislature. But to be truly great, the judiciary exercising democratic power must enjoy independence of a high order. But independence could become dangerous and undemocratic unless there is a constitutional discipline with rules of good conduct and accountability: without these, the robes may prove arrogant. It is in this context that Chief Justice S.H....
More »Dr Anand Teltumbde, Dalit intellectual, thinker and human rights activist interviewed by Prasanna D Zore
-Rediff.com On July 14, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court commuted the death sentence awarded to six convicts in the Khairlanji murder case to 25 years' rigorous imprisonment. On September 29, 2006, a mob brutally raped a mother and daughter before killing them along with her two sons. Surekha Bhotmange (then 42), Priyanka Bhotmange (17), Roshan Bhotmange (19) and Sudhir Bhotmange (21) belonged to one of the three Dalit families...
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