-The Times of India BANGALORE: Safe drinking water for all is a common promise in the manifestos of all political parties. Yet, villagers in North Karnataka are drinking water with high arsenic content, said a Comptroller and Auditor General report released on Thursday. Though the National Rural Drinking Water Mission looked into the issue, it made a conscious effort to keep itself away from the high-cost treatment technologies to deal with arsenic...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Civil society members and RTI activists sharply criticized political parties for their reluctance to accept the Central Information Commission (CIC) order bringing them under the RTI Act. In a reflection of their cautious stance, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) - the main applicant who had sought information on donors to political parties - filed a caveat on Tuesday with the court to prevent any...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Lifting the cloak of secrecy from sources of funding of political parties and their expenditure the central information commission (CIC) has ruled that they are public authorities who now need to respond to RTI queries within six weeks. Political parties on Monday lost the battle to stay out of RTI purview and keep their donors secret after the commission in a 54-page order said six national...

-The Hindu The Justice Verma Committee report acts as a blueprint for the radical transformation of gender relations within the framework of constitutional guarantees and gender equality. However, the adoption of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 by Parliament on March 19, 2013, does not go beyond legal change. Prof. Hasan argues that if political parties are serious about the rights of women, the Women's Representation Bill must be passed...

-The Business Standard Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi professor and development economist Reetika Khera tells Sreelatha Menon that the food Bill may not be a leap ahead, but it is certainly a step forward * The food Bill is a guarantee for lifelong dependence on government doles. As an economist, can one defend such a policy? The food Bill should be seen as an investment. "Labour" is India's most important asset. In that sense,...