A cap on the limit of advertising time on television has polarised the views of the broadcasters and viewers. After a tug of war for quite some time, the Indian Broadcasters Federation (IBF) reluctantly agreed to the guidelines of the ministry of
The government’s ambitious network of 1 lakh common services centres (CSC), the front ends for delivery of public services across 6 lakh villages, continues to grapple with issues of unavailability of services and viability, even as the firs
Before the public procurement bill 2012 is passed by parliament, the IT industry has urged the government to incorporate its concerns. Among others, one of the major issues concerning the industry is the unprecedented strength
I have never sent or received a telegram. Not in the 37-plus years that I have lived on this planet till date, nor on July 15, when the last ones went out as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which ran it, wound up the service. I never needed t
Initiated in January 2000, the Delhi government’s Bhagidari programme is meant to promote broad-based civic participation in local governance. In simpler terms, to help residents deal with problems like erratic water supply, power outages, w
Even after one month of the havoc wreaked by cloud burst leading to flash floods and landslide in Uttarakhand, the government and other development agencies are still struggling to ensure that the relief materials reaches the most-affected and nee
While the politicians fight the political fight over the deaths in the Bihar midday meals tragedy – the state’s education minister, PK Sahi, on Wednesday morning told news channels that it is “not a case of food being contaminate
Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has set a novel precedent for states to follow — the state government is buying up stake in different central public sector units (CPSUs) in disinvestment moves of the union government. The Tamil nadu
A year after the government directed all central ministries to disclose their minister’s discretionary powers and frame guidelines to regulate them, the order has not been complied by 66 of 84 department/ministries, including ministries of r
Now that the Yes Bank saga seems to have entered the stage of the final hearing at the Bombay high court and it appears that its CEO and MD Rana Kapoor had written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2012 requesting that Madhu Kapoor, widow of A
Days before he completes a year in Rashtrapati Bhavan, president Pranab Mukherjee has been forced to look into issues from his home state. Forced, because the issues at stake is poignant enough to move even the most hardened of politicians –
Amidst concerns of a slowing economy and declining demand, India’s top IT distributor Iris Computers has posted a 34 percent growth in its turnover to Rs 1,200 crore last year and the company has forecasted turnover to cross Rs 2000 crore in
(This is first in a series of stories on flouting of norms by managing committees of cooperative housing societies in Mumbai). As the name suggests, Grand Paradi Cooperative Housing Society in south Mumbai
In grim fallout of a bitter turf war within the family of Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi, a first cousin of the departed godman was arrested on Sunday. Ganapathi Raju was arrested in SC/ST (prevention of atrocities Act) case lodged by the
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi spent two hours, purportedly discussing current politics, in a luncheon meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday. While details on what transpired between in the two are still to emerge, the me
Two months after the sting operation by a web portal exposed violation of banking norms by several banks, including several public sector institutions, the reserve bank of India (RBI) has swung into action by slapping a total penalty of around Rs
“Yaari hai imaan mera, yaar meri zindagi…” The lines that define friendship are also the lines that are synonymous with Pran, who passed away last week in Mumbai. Declared as the ‘villain of the millennium’,
The Uttarakhand secretariat on the busy Rajpur Road in the state capital, Dehradun, was buzzing with activity on July 9. After weeks of speculation, the much-anticipated visit from a team of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) had fina
The data lying in government files has great social and commercial value. Under the ‘open data initiative’, started by the government last year, more and more departments releasing datasets on the umbrella website, data.gov.in. From th
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has never been in more trouble than she is in today. The deeper trouble – for the state and for society, for women in the state, in particular, and, of course, for the democratic-electoral process &
