Before filing papers, prospective candidates enter into a tacit deal with media, says EC   Even as it is tightening the noose around the media-candidates' nexus to thwart “paid news” instances through its district media committees and expenditure observers, the Election Commission has come to know about new strategies worked out by them to break the rules. “We have received reports that such ‘paid news' transactions had taken place in some instances in...

Sixth anniversary of the implementation of the scheme On the sixth anniversary of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Employment Scheme (MNREGS) there were protests outside the office of State Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Subrata Mukherjee here on Thursday against the absence of work and delay in payment of wages under the scheme. Stating that so far an average of 15 person-days of work per household had...

-The Indian Express   The cancellation of 2G licences by the Supreme Court has further exposed the big scam, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy said today. He said the scam was a "collective failure" of the government, which "overlooked" warnings given by the CAG and the CVC on the issue. "Everyone had warned including the CAG and the CVC but the government overlooked it," Swamy said soon after the Supreme Court cancelled the 122...

-The Indian Express SC wants a four-month deadline for govt to give sanction; what about the years of trial in a court? The Supreme Court is right in underlining the need for speedy sanction to prosecute public officials in corruption cases. The court was responding to a petition by Subramanian Swamy, who alleged “inordinate delay” by the prime minister’s office in responding to his petition on the 2G spectrum scam, and withholding...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today said a public servant facing corruption charges need not be heard before the competent authority decides on sanctioning prosecution. “…the person for whose prosecution the sanction is sought is not required to be heard before a decision in the matter. What is required to be seen is whether the facts placed before it, which, in a given case, may include the material collected by the complainant...