Around the time Anna Hazare ended his fast at Ramlila Maidan and declared "electoral reforms" as his next agenda, 15 different organizations under the aegis of "Forum For Good Governance" kicked off a daylong deliberation on the same issue. Eminent members of the judiciary, political class, civil society and bureaucracy participated in the national conference on the 'urgency of electoral and political party reforms'. The success of Anna Hazare's anti-graft movement...

With skewed sex ratios it is difficult to find a local mate Decades of unchecked sex-selective abortions have made the once fertile States of Punjab and Haryana suffer a drought of brides, making human-trafficking a lucrative and expanding trade. Often projected as a voluntary marriage, every year, thousands of young women and girls are lured into the idea of a happy married life with a rich man in Punjab or Haryana....

The truth about the Indian media’s increasing reliance on revenues from news that has been paid for, has long been shrouded in half-truths, corporate denials and misleading information in carefully sifted reports sent out by regulatory bodies. While the national media, flush with high TRP ratings and advertising revenues, is patting itself on its self-righteous back for relentless coverage of the public protests against corruption in high places, it is...

-IANS   Bihar, for years a metaphor for backwardness, will now harness modern communiction tools to nail corruption. It will expose officials seeking bribes in welfare schemes by uploading clips of complaints against them on the video-sharing website YouTube. "The state government has decided to use YouTube as a new tool to expose corrupt and bribe-seekers," Bihar Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra told media as graft becomes a nationwide concern, particularly with...

-The Times of India   The flood situation remained grim in most of north India with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar being the worst affected. More than a hundred people have died since the start of the monsoon and thousands of people rendered homeless. Standing crop has been damaged in several districts and livestock of many villages has got swept away. Most rivers in east and southeast of Uttar Pradesh are flowing above the...