The government's crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his followers has had one unintended effect: It has united civil society groups till now bitterly divided over the direction and scope of the anti-corruption movement. From Anna Hazare to Aruna Roy, civil society activists on Sunday buried their differences and spoke in one voice against the midnight police swoop, calling it draconian and undemocratic. Mr. Hazare threatened to follow up a day-long fast...
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Clinical trials claimed 25 lives in 2010, only 5 paid compensation by Kounteya Sinha
Rs 3 lakh – that's the price a pharmaceutical company has paid to the family of a person who died in their clinical trial. Others weren't even this lucky. According to the Drug Controller General of India's (DCGI) records, 25 people died in clinical trials carried out by nine pharmaceutical companies in 2010. Families of five of these victims received "compensation for trial related death" — the amount ranging from Rs...
More »Amnesty concern over imminent execution of Das by J Venkatesan
11-year delay in deciding on mercy petition cruel, degrading punishment' Amnesty International has expressed concern over the imminent execution of Mahendra Nath Das of Jorhat in Assam following the rejection of his mercy petition by President Pratibha Patil recently. In a statement, the AI said the 11-year delay in announcing the verdict of the mercy petition and the resultant prolonging of the stay on death row might amount to cruel, inhuman and...
More »Arrest of an activist raises uncomfortable questions by Supriya Sharma
An arrest in a small corner of Chhattisgarh has become the subject of an 'urgent action' petition circulating worldwide. Amnesty International, a human Rights watchdog, has urged people to write to authorities "calling on them to drop the false charges against Ramesh Agrawal and Dr Harihar Patel and release them immediately". A week ago, Agrawal and Patel were arrested in Raigarh based on a complaint filed by Jindal Power Limited. A...
More »Right-to-information request found nearly as effective as bribing in India by Stephanie Nolen
Using India’s populist Right to Information process gives citizens about as good a chance of receiving basic services as paying a bribe does, providing a new, and surprising weapon in the war against corruption. Two doctoral candidates in political science at Yale University recruited slum dwellers in Delhi and asked them to apply for a “ration card,” which allows people living below the poverty line to buy food at subsidized prices....
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