In the last five weeks, India’s self-regulation regime on TV content has emerged without clothes. RTI activist Devashish Bhattacharya, tipped off by a column I wrote in The Pioneer, produced hard evidence that TV18/Colo
Team Anna on Friday sought to tear into government on the Lokpal Bill alleging that it engineered the high drama in rajya sabha as it did not have the intention to set up a strong anti-corruption ombudsman. Putting the blame squarely on go
Panch Parmeshwar, a short story by Hindi literary stalwart Munshi Premchand, captures the soul of Indian sense of justice. Its protagonist, Jumman Shaikh, is full of anger for his friend-turned-foe Alagu Chaudhary. Incidentally, he is cho
Vowing to "expose" the government on the Lokpal Bill issue, the BJP today demanded that it should quit and hold fresh elections as it had "lost" majority in both Houses of Parliament. "The government has lost a maj
Private banks will have to wait for a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nod before they are allowed to open accounts for the huge MNREGS workforce in the country. The request from some of the states is lying with the bank. “It is informed
BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi on Friday alleged Congress never wanted the Lokpal bill to be passed by Parliament. "The government`s intention was not right since the beginning and the Congress itself did not want the Lokpal bill to
Government on Friday projected the BJP as the villain in rajya sabha`s failure to pass the Lokpal Bill on Thursday night and accused it of choreographing the fiasco but refrained from blaming key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress which had moved
Angry at the "undemocratic act" of scuttling voting on Lokpal Bill, BJP today launched an agitation against the government accusing it of "murdering" democracy by orchestrating events in Rajya Sabha last night as per a "pr
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi today appeared to raise questions over rajya sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari`s conduct during the debate on Lokpal Bill in the upper house. "In everyone`s life there come moments where one can rise above. This
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the probe into Maharashtra government`s decision to sell a land plot measuring over one acre, occupied by the army in suburban Kandivli here, to a private company. The case is simila
Suspected Maoists killed three villagers and abducted four others from Kanaudi village in Bihars Jamui district, police said today. Superintendent of Police R N Singh said the ultras raided the village late last night and killed Mumtaz Ans
In the light of the ongoing crisis in India`s microfinance sector, there is a need for an `early warning system` that would predict disruptions in the sector, says, Elizabeth Larson, the regional manager for Asia at Microfinance Information Exchan
Team Anna on Friday attacked the government for its failure to get Lokpal Bill passed by rajya sabha and accused it of not doing enough home work to bring other political parties on board to respect the `Sense of the House` on this issue.
Attacking the opposition for Rajya Sabha`s failure to pass the Lokpal Bill, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal today said the Bill will be taken up for consideration in the Bedget session of parliament. "The Conduct of the op
The Gujarat high court on Thursday issued a notice to special investigation team (SIT) on a petition by a convict sentenced to death in the Godhra train carnage, demanding that additional evidence in form of CDs of a TV sting operation be brought
All three major anti-corruption bills -- Lokpal, Judicial Accountability and Protection of Whistleblowers -- could not be passed in the winter session of parliament as the government was not able to muster support from its allies and the oppositio
(This piece, first published in the September 16-30 issue of the Governance Now magazine, is relevant after the midnight fiasco in Rajya Sabha last night.) Some fortresses are so sturdily built that the only danger they are
The Lokpal Bill has always appeared to be a jinxed affair, the history of last 40 years shows. With the rajya sabha adjourning sine die midnight amid uproar without passing the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, even after day-long debate, i
Under fierce attack from the opposition, the government tonight defended the move to adjourn the rajya sabha sine die saying it needs time to study the nearly 200 amendments moved by the opposition on the Lokpal Bill. "We have to stud
Political parties, including UPA ally Trinamool Congress, on Thursday night cried foul after the rajya sabha failed to pass the Lokpal Bill terming it as a "black day" for democracy and the opposition demanded resignation of the governme
