The lone Indian activist on the 2011 TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, Aruna Roy has been more successful than most,  when it comes to getting the government’s attention. The Chennai-born former bureaucrat who was an instrumental force behind the revolutionary Right to Information Act has also been credited by the government for “incorporating strong citizen entitlements” in the ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). A constant...

The anti-corruption movement is at the crossroads today. Where do we go from here? We are conscious that a wrong decision at this stage could prove disastrous for the movement. I met Anna in hospital two days back. Most of the time, I found him in deep thought. More than his physical ailment, he is suffering from a deep sense of being cheated. He is deeply hurt. When he went to...

-The Times of India After registering five FIRs in National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation is now moving ahead and has arrested Former Uttar Pradesh bureaucrat P K Jain on Thursday. In another development, sources said that they are planning to book P K Jain and other accused persons in disproportionate assets case. Jain has been arrested in the case in which sacked BSP leader Babu Singh...

-The Indian Express   The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh comes down on cow slaughter with an exceptionally stringent law. The Gau-Vansh Vadh Pratishedh (Sanshodhan) Act, which has received the presidential assent, makes cow slaughter a serious offence liable for punishment up to seven years. Even transport of cows to slaughter or storing of beef could invite punishment of varying degrees. Prohibition on the killing of cows and consumption of beef has been...

-The Hindustan Times   Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Wednesday produced a fax message, which he claimed he had sent to CERTain officials on February 27, 2002 immediately after the meeting held by chief minister Narendra Modi at his residence. The message alerted police about an anticipated communal violence in the state soon after the Godhara train carnage.   Bhatt has annexed the fax message in a letter to the SC-appointed SIT,...