A High Court judge in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta faces possible impeachment after a judicial committee found him guilty of corruption. Justice Soumitra Sen misappropriated "large sums" of money and made false statements, said the three-member committee set up by parliament. The indictment paves the way for impeachment proceedings against Justice Sen. He denies any wrongdoing. It would be the first time such a senior Indian judge has been impeached. Such a...

The term “bottom of the pyramid” (BOP), coined by the late C K Prahalad, became wildly attractive in the early noughties, in part because the concept, which suggests that it is possible and legit to make money from the poor, provided a leavening justification for the animal spirits of capitalism in poor countries like India and China with their growing list of Forbes billionaires. On the verge of the second decade...

Leading micro-lender SKS Microfinance today hinted that it could move the courts if the recent Andhra Pradesh notification prohibiting collection of loan repayments on a weekly basis is not withdrawn.The notification stipulated that the periodicity of repayment by self-help group (SGH) members to MFIs should not be less than a month, even under existing loan agreements.However, microfinance institutions operating in the state have railed against the move."In the event the...

Can we afford to leave MG-NREGA alone? Why is the civil society crying foul? Are the rural activists demanding too much? Is the UPA-II trying to take back what UPA-I gave before the elections? Let us face it, the MG-NREGA is in a big crisis. NAC members like Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze have alleged (See links below) that the present remuneration of rural workers is declining by the day and it...

The heat on telecom minister A Raja is rising, with the Comptroller and Auditor General holding him personally responsible for the sale of 2G spectrum at dirt cheap rates in 2008, resulting in a loss of up to Rs 1.70 lakh crore to the national exchequer. The damning indictment stacks the odds even higher against Raja, who is already under intense scrutiny by the telecom watchdog, civil society and the Supreme...