Second a series of articles on civil society and governance, Jayaprakash Narayan describes the prevailing situation.

Members of parliament find many uses for their constituency development funds, but a number of these are simply photo-ops for the incumbents.

Year after year, Police refuse to act and file thousands of complaints made by citizens. Arvind Verma looks at the FIR mechanism that forms the basis of criminal investigation.

For the Railways, the key to crime-control is to concentrate on the smaller issues of orderliness, abatement of nuisances, petty crimes and rule of law.

Information technology can and must expand from merely being an agent of the trickle-down effect to active resource mobilization, says Krishna Rupanagunta.

The Police Act Drafting Committee's term came to an end on 31 January. Any significant attempt to reform the Indian police must begin with the men at the bottom, the constabulary, not at the top. However, such changes would call for a struggle against the nature of Indian society itself, says former IPS officer K S Subramanian.

In mineral-rich lands, adivasis still find it hard to make ends meet. Violence between the state and Naxals threatens to divide and disenfranchise them further. Freny Manecksha reports.

The decision of the MoEF to allow only organisations accredited by the Quality Council of India to carry out environment impact assessment of interventions might sound promising, but is likely to achieve little. Kanchi Kohli discusses the inherent flaws in such notification.

India’s decision and actions in appointing the first president of the BRICS New Development Bank will signal its thrust on social and environmental sustainability, not only within the new financial order but also domestically, writes Sunita Dubey.

A recent report suggests merging the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) into a new organisation to be called the National Water Commission. Shripad Dharmadhikary comments on the report.

Do district level and local media play a critical role in development journalism? In a two-part series The Hoot.org takes a closer look at Mirzapur's media.

Data from UP's Crime Records Bureau shows only a small number of crimes against women, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Police officials' unwillingness to register and investigate crimes is a key reason, and the State Commission for Women is largely mute. Puja Awasthi reports.

On Independence day, a District Magistrate in U.P. handed over three teachers of a primary school to the police, during a surprise school visit. School children are among the worst sufferers in the state; they continue to pay for a system they neither moulded nor understand. Puja Awasthi reports.

Despite recent concessions to be subject to Right to Information Act, the Supreme Court's attitude to the sunshine law remains a matter of concern, writes Pradeep Baisakh.

Central Information Commission asks MoEF to make an environment expert panel's report public, outlining arguments that could be used for disclosure of many other documents. Krishnaraj Rao writes.

Kobe Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakers superstar, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, NBA officials confirmed to league employees. He was 41 years old. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was also killed in the crash. Photo: Getty Images

Victoria’s Secret became a powerhouse lingerie retailer thanks to the vision of executives at its parent company. But amid changing consumer tastes, sexual harassment accusations and ties to Jeffrey Epstein now under scrutiny, the once iconic brand’s stock has been tumbling and it has signaled it may be looking for a buyer. Photo: Getty Images

After work, Julian Yeo swaps his spreadsheets and balance sheets for knives and a pressure cooker. The NYU accounting professor uses cooking and Instagram as creative outlets that feed his need for human connection.

Elephants at Oscar, Picasso at Tory and more culottes--this time, from J.Crew in the New York Fashion Week runway recap.

Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act following a six-week trial. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance called the conviction “the new landscape for survivors of sexual assault.” Weinstein has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Photo: Peter Foley/Bloomberg News

The Wall Street Journal's first Financial Inclusion Challenge in the U.S. concluded with three finalists facing a panel of judges to answer questions about the impact and sustainability of their work. Hope Credit Union, based in Jackson, Miss., received the evening's top honors for its efforts to provide banking services in underserved regions of the American South. Video/Photo: Clara Ritger for The Wall Street Journal

Jennifer Catron boarded Carnival’s Costa Luminosa on March 5 for a transatlantic cruise. Her video diaries provide a window into life on board the ship as the coronavirus scare became a full-blown pandemic.

Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn talks with WSJ Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray about the differences in management style required for different corporate cultures in this excerpt from Tuesday's Viewpoints conversation.

'Shashi Tharoor and the Congress party coming together was a recipe for success. If Shashi had chosen to contest on his own on the basis of his personal accomplishments, he could have presented an agenda for change and made a splash, but like some of the other Independent stars, he would have made a point, but not gone any further.'

Phase IV: Cong fields maximum crorepatis

Congress has the most crorrepatis in the fray in Phase V of the polls.

Fifth Phase: BSP has maximum criminal candidates

There are 57 members with criminal background, one with even charges of rape, and 134 crorepatis (74 per cent) in the newly-elected Gujarat assembly, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms, a non-political group aiming at governmental and electoral reforms. Vicky Nanjappa reports.

Moneylender troubles, a fast depleting catch due to reckless pollution, and displacement: it has been raining blow after blow on fisherfolk in Andhra Pradesh recently. Will a meeting with a cabinet minister fix things? Keya Acharya reports.

Safety and criminality in society must be assessed directly from the people themselves. The government is deluding itself and citizens by conflating law enforcement statistics with crime data, writes Tara Krishnaswamy.

Kanchi Kohli reports from the public meetings on a Hydro Electric Project that involves diverting a river tributary near Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

Power fluctuations of a different sort have hit the Tipaimukh dam and the Loktat downstream project even before construction! Himanshu Upadhyaya observes the continuing tussle between various vested parties - the Centre, Manipur, Bangladesh, and the people living in the affected areas.

India generates 100 million tonnes of fly ash each year, and close to 90% of this ends up in waste mounds. But Georg Dirk believes that 40% of this by-product of thermal power stations can be turned into cement, reducing energy costs, environmental pollution, and waste. Darryl D'Monte reports.

The Sikkim government’s irregular allocation of hydropower projects to a New Delhi-based power producer and the eventual turn of events have cost the state more than Rs 2400 crore, according to a CAG report. Soumik Dutta reports on the details of the case and other related discrepancies that have surfaced since.

Most villagers in U.P.'s Hardoi district, except for a miniscule few associated with social or political organizations, were not aware of the passage of the new Employment Guarantee Law last year. Since then, its coming into force in 22 districts of U.P. has not impressed them either. Sandeep Pandey notes why.

In the recent history of development in India, examples of interconnected success -- in local autonomy, forest rejuvenation and agriculture -- such as this, are rare. For Nagaland, it all started under the stewardship of Achyut Madhav Gokhale. Surekha Sule has it all.

"India should be worried." Experts reiterate that child malnutrition is not only responsible for 22 per cent of India's disease burden - and for 50 per cent of the 2.3 million child deaths in India -- but is also a serious economic hazard. Neeta Lal reports.

Videh Upadhyay urges the SC to take a comprehensive approach, protecting forests and those whose livelihood and culture are tied to nature.

Just as democracy prevents famines without addressing everyday food scarcity, does it prevent horrendous violence while accepting and even abetting smaller acts of violence, wonders Rajesh Kasturirangan.

A number of barbs have been flung at Anna Hazare and the India Against Corruption campaign, amidst the rising popularity of the effort. Are these justified, wonders Rajesh Kasturirangan.

With the World Bank 'banning' construction major Progressive Constructions Ltd on graft charges, R Uma Maheshwari urges a review of the contracts awarded to it in connection with the critical Polavaram Dam project.

A recent study from the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy shows that Indian cities rest on a weak systemic foundation. Madhavi Rajadhyaksha highlights the key findings from the study to argue for a systemic overhaul of urban India.

India's upcoming National Biotech Policy will aim at food security, health-safety, farmer well-being, protection of the environment and security of trade in farm commodities. But favouring GM crops over alternatives runs real risks of jeopardizing this agenda, argues Kasturi Das.

The government's stance towards biotechnology shows such disregard for the public interest that even its own Expert Committee is not privy to the proposed new policy. Suman Sahai protests the reckless endorsement of vested interests while many other stakeholders are kept in the dark.

Having drastically curtailed the width of eco-sensitive zones in Sikkim, the MoEF seems intent on ignoring local sentiment as well as environmental norms in order to push forward the Tashiding HEP on the sacred Rathong Chu river. Soumik Dutta reports on the latest in the case.

An India Together radio program featuring Professor Jagdeep Chhokar of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad on the new anti-criminalization rules for India's elections.

The Kerala government complains that nearly all its revenue is used to pay the salaries of government employees. Why, then, is the government busy adding new members to its recruiting agency? P N Venugopal notes the contradictions, as the government's finances slide further into the red.

Financial audits of public undertakings can be conducted as in other firms, but how about audits of their administration? Himanshu Upadhyaya observes that the government's move to limit the CAG's mandate confuses financial scrutiny with oversight of governance issues, and the public auditor's role in the latter function is still vital.

Does the World Bank advocate development, or is it simply a money-lender pushing its loan packages? For too long, the distinction has been blurred, allowing the Bank to make self-serving recommendations. Sudhirendar Sharma notes the latest instance of this as the Bank pushes into water sector reforms in India.

There is now mounting hope that micro finance can be a large scale poverty alleviation tool. Banks too are shedding their old reluctance to lend to the poor, and are looking to tap the expertise of micro credit groups to create a new market. Ramesh Menon reports on the status quo and the challenges ahead.