Given the scale of corruption in India, the constitution of a Jan Lokpal will be a welcome initiative. But the proposed Lokpal has the makings of a super-monster. After 42 years of hesitation and uncertainty, an institutional mechanism to deal with the all-pervasive incidence of corruption in India is in sight. What apparently moved the state machinery was the agitation spearheaded by Anna Hazare, which drew spontaneous support primarily in the...

How much reward does a fire fighter get for one of the most difficult relief and rescue operations in recent times? That too in a major air crash, the worst in a decade. Karnataka government thinks that Rs 100 is the best reward! The 85 fire department personnel who worked non stop for 12 hours and remained at the crash site for 5 days have got certificates with an instruction to...

Medicine heals, but this fact doesn`t hold true for every 300th patient admitted to hospital. Call it the law of averages or blame human error for it, but the World Health Organization believes that one in 10 hospital admissions leads to an adverse event and one in 300 admissions in death. An adverse event could range from the patient having to spend an extra day in hospital or missing a dose...

Anna Hazare’s group today released purported evidence that the audio CD implicating Shanti Bhushan and his son Prashant was doctored, alleged government involvement and threatened to move the Supreme Court. The development threatens a fresh standoff between the Centre and the civil society members of the Lok Pal Bill drafting committee, which includes both the Bhushans. Prashant and fellow panel member Arvind Kejriwal said they had got the CD examined by two...

Six items prioritised for Prajapatham The State Cabinet has identified six priorities for this year's Prajapatham mass-contact programme proposed to be held from May first week to solve the people's identified problems. They are drinking water supply and sanitation; implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) with emphasis on arresting migration of labour; social security benefits like pensions and ration cards; disbursement of arrears to self-help groups under Pavala Vaddi...