A senior officer in Chhattisgarh Police admitted Tuesday that two tribal men killed on suspicion of being Maoists were most probably innocent civilians.A day after policemen got a pat for supposedly displaying heroism, a preliminary inquiry has showed that the deceased were local civilians, probably killed in cross-firing.The incident took place early Monday on the outskirts of Jagdalpur town, headquarters of the restive Bastar region.Preliminary investigation indicates that Mahru, 40,...

Heavy security bandobast is in place for the third phase of panchayat elections which will take place tomorrow in 61 blocks of 20 districts, with many of the areas considered rebel strongholds.This phase covers as many as 999 panchayats where 40,471 candidates are in the fray for 12,011 Posts of gram panchayat members, mukhiyas, panchayat samiti members and zilla parishad members. The electorate strength is over 32.58 lakh.“Polling parties have...

National Advisory Council (NAC) will examine threadbare the new draft rules framed for Right to Information Act , which make it mandatory for applicants to file questions in 250 words and pay for hiring photocopy machine used to provide information. NAC’s sub-group on transparency and accountability, headed by social activist Aruna Roy, would discuss the draft rules in its meeting on Monday. The draft rules for RTI Act have been framed...

Police sub-inspector of Vyara police station, S H Bava, was nabbed red-handed by anti-corruption bureau (ACB) officials for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a NREGA misappropriation accused here on Sunday. Bava had demanded money for not requesting for further remand of the accused from the court to investigate the case. Kanji Chaudhary, Post master of Pathakwadi village, and Sapna Chaudhary, sarpanch of the village, had been arrested on...

Today, the Indian media—both print and television—is focusing on the recent corruption scandals involving the UPA Government with unusual zeal. However, I fail to understand why almost every commentator, every TV anchor, every editorial writer feels compelled to pay ritual obeisance to the “personal honesty and integrity” of Dr Manmohan Singh while dealing with the scandals emanating from his cabinet colleagues. They do so even when there is clear evidence...