(Application deadline Monday December 31, 2012) Inclusive Media for Change, a CSDS-based initiative invites applications from journalists in English and Hindi for Inclusive Media Fellowships 2012-13. The Fellowships are given to bring spotlight on Rural Development and to promote democratic social change, particularly through empowerment, decentralization, convergence and good use of existing development schemes by Panchayats and local bodies. The Inclusive Media for Change runs a clearing house of ideas, information...

-The Economic Times It's extreme weather season in Asia again. Deadly cyclones, blinding rain, floods and mudslides are becoming the norm from Nepal to Fiji. The world's policymakers must reflect on extreme weather patterns while budgeting their nations' finances. In Thailand last year's floods caused losses of $46.5 billion. Reconstruction costs will reach at least $50 billion, according to the government and UN's assessments. In Pakistan widespread flooding two years ago affected 20...

-The Times of India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has turned down suggestions from both Left and BJP leaders on considering changes in the appointment process of the comptroller and auditor general (CAG), while replying to a letter from CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta on November 5. The PM, however, is open to changes in the appointment, resignation and removal process of election commissioners, including the chief election commissioner, as part of electoral...

-The Economic Times Pan Singh Tomar, the legendary steeplechase athlete-turned-dacoit, earned an annual salary of 120 or thereabouts from the Indian Army, where he served as a hawildar in the 1950s. These days, his great grandson roams around their ancestral village dispensing similar amounts to those at the bottom of the Indian pyramid. If Tomar Sr had resorted to guns for the latter part of his life, Anuj Singh Tomar too has...

-The Indian Express The Rajat Gupta case provokes a question: Could the Indian system handle such a situation as well? Rajat Gupta has got two years in prison for insider trading, a fraction of the term sought by the prosecution. It is a fair sentence, delivered without regard for the multiple pressures that had been brought to bear on this much-publicised case. The handling of the case — among about 60 others...