-The Telegraph   The Malom neighbourhood, which witnessed the killing of 10 civilians leading to Irom Sharmila’s 11-year fast, rose in union today to lend a voice to the Iron Lady against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Mass sit-ins were held in various parts of the state to mark the beginning of the 12th year of Sharmila’s fast, demanding scrapping of the “draconian law”. Police dispersed a group of students who staged...

While a CAG audit is welcome, it alone won’t improve the effectiveness of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh’s recent decision to ask the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) to audit MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) funds has created a buzz among social sector observers. They’ve been demanding reforms in MGNREGA’s implementation to arrest the slide in its effectiveness. The...

Six years after the Right to Information Act was passed by Parliament, the government has made no progress in computerisation of its records, a promise it made in the law itself. Amid growing complaints from departments that most of their time is spent in handling RTIs, the Central Information Commission has now reminded the government to do a status check of the implementation of the RTI Act and computerise all...

-The Hindu   Talks brokered by Gurgaon district administration are expected to continue today   The first day of talks between the management and striking workers of Maruti Suzuki India Limited's Manesar plant on Monday, brokered by the Gurgaon district administration, did not yield a breakthrough even as the strike entered its 11th day. The talks are expected to continue on Tuesday. Meanwhile, thousands of workers demonstrated outside the Deputy Labour Commissioner's office in Gurgaon...

IT IS one of the inspirational legends of Indian journalism that James Hickey, founder and editor of the Bengal Gazette — this country’s first newspaper, with its first edition going back to January 1780 — was a fearless seeker of the truth, taken to court and imprisoned by Warren Hastings, then governor-general. Reality is a little different. Hickey’s paper was often a gossipy, yellow rag. It thought nothing of publishing scurrilous...