Has Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), one of India’s best-known peoples’ movements, run out of steam? Or is it still relevant in its new avatar as a force to reckon with? After all, the NBA has failed to achieve its primary goal of blocking big dams on Narmada, including the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat. The short answer to the question of NBA’s achievement is that it has forced a paradigm...
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The republic on a banana peel by P Sainath
Media-corporate links are structural. But journalists, certainly entrenched ones, can choose whether they wish to be stenographers or not. It was gratifying to have the head of India's most reputed business house confirm the existence of crony capitalism in the country. True, others have believed this for 20 years but it carries more weight when Ratan Tata says so. As he put it in a television interview with admirable candour: “Yes,...
More »CIC asks OC for all Games documents
The Organising Committee (OC) of the Commonwealth Games has got yet another blow vis-à-vis the corruption charges and various probes that it is facing owing to the alleged corruption in the Games and related affairs. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued summons to the OC asking it to submit all documents related to alleged discrepancies in the ticketing, Queen's Baton Relay and the conduct of the Games. The transparency watchdog...
More »Shortchanged by Manoj Mitta
For Sonia Gandhi, the change could not have been more dramatic. Just last year, her contribution in pushing for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was hailed as the single largest reason for the fresh mandate received by a government avowedly dedicated to the aam aadmi. Yet, last week, Gandhi, as chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) was reduced to lodging a complaint with Prime Minister...
More »After RTI revelations, new CM may return flat
He got flat, meant for weaker sections, under MPs' quota Maharashtra's new Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan may return a flat allotted in May 2003 under the MP's quota, now that a Right To Information application has revealed that he owns the flat provided under the discretionary quota. The application by RTI activist Anil Galgali, seeking the names of those who owned flats under the Chief Minister's discretionary quota, showed that Mr. Chavan...
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