-PTI A Karnataka civil servant who had exposed controversial land allotments by cooperative societies died in hospital today, five days after being attacked and left unconscious on a Bangalore street. The murder of state administrative service officer S.P. Mahantesh, 48, prompted Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy to urge the government to protect honest officials as its first priority. Mahantesh, known for his integrity, was deputy director of the audit wing of the state...

Institutions the bill proposes to set up are not adequately independent of the government The government is reported to be making efforts to seek a consensus amongst its allies and the opposition parties on the Lokpal Bill that is awaiting approval of the Rajya Sabha. People’s movements and some of the main opposition parties have objected to various provisions of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, as passed in the winter...

CRPF top brass on Wednesday distanced itself from a senior officer's demand that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) cover be extended to the paramilitary force to tackle the Maoist scourge. D K Pandey, a CRPF inspector-general (IG) posted in Ranchi and in-charge of anti-Maoist operations for the central force in Jharkhand, had made the pitch, which is seen to be his personal view. Speaking to TOI, CRPF director-general K Vijay...

-The Economist HOW should one judge the lot of women in India, a country that is in many ways progressive, modern, tolerant and yet by turns repressive and hostile? Women hold the highest political positions (the presidency, speaker of parliament, leader of the ruling party, leader of the opposition in parliament, several chief ministers of large states) and in theory they are protected by a variety laws promoting equality. Though development indicators...

-The Economic Times The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has concluded in its final report that it would not amount to an offence even if Gujarat chief ministerNarendra Modi hypothetically did say something about 'allowing Hindus to vent their anger' in a meeting with top Police Officers after the Godhra carnage in 2002. That is an appalling conclusion. If Modi did actually make that statement, it patently cannot be called...