PM sees room for intellectuals in ‘governance process’

October 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal government did not have any specific evidence against those Kolkata intellectuals who had visited Lalgarh expressing solidarity for the movement carried out by the tribals in the region, state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said Tuesday. "We've no specific information on the basis of which we can arrest them (intellectuals)," Sen told reporters here.

October 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - As the West Bengal police interrogated top tribal leaders of Lalgarh and suggested their links with some city-based intellectuals and human rights activists, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Monday threatened a people's agitation if any intellectual was harassed. The police top brass, which has been quizzing tribal leader and People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) chief Chhattradhar Mahato and assistant treasurer Sukh Shanti Baske in Kolkata, said the PCAPA had received funding from some Kolkata based intellectuals and some of the money landed in the hands of the Maoists.

September 19th, 2009 MUMBAI - Axiom Education, an education innovation company, Saturday announced the launch of interactive comic textbooks based on the curriculum set by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) to spread scientific knowledge. Called "iken books", the textbooks have been designed with comic characters imparting education, and will be available in two volumes for students of sixth to eight standards.

July 14th, 2009 MUMBAI - Intellectuals from India and Pakistan Tuesday called upon the leaders of the two countries, who are set to meet in Egypt during the non-aligned summit, to resume the peace process that was stalled following the Mumbai terror attacks last year. In a statement, the group said that peace-loving people all over the world have great expectations from the proposed meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Sharm-El-Shaikh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit.

June 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Focusing on reforms in governance, the Manmohan Singh government has made it mandatory for every proposal that comes before the cabinet to include explanation of how it furthers the cause of equity and inclusiveness. "As part of process reform, all proposals to the cabinet will have to report on how the proposal under consideration will enhance the goals of equity or inclusion, innovation and public accountability," President Pratibha Patil told a joint session of parliament Thursday.

May 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Shashi Tharoor, the newly-elected MP from Thiruvananthapuram, hopes his victory will spur 'a new generation of professionals, intellectuals and thinkers' to take the plunge and make a difference to the political life in India. 'What we need are professionals, intellectuals and thinkers who had other kinds of work experiences than politics to bring their different mindsets into the political process,' Tharoor, the former UN undersecretary-general who narrowly lost the battle to be the secretary-general, told IANS in a wide-ranging conversation at his suite in Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi.

May 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The huge mandate to the Congress came with the challenge of 'rising expectations' and people, especially the youth, would not tolerate a 'business as usual' attitude, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday. Addressing his party's newly elected MPs, the prime minister said: 'The youth of India have voted in large numbers for our party.

May 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - A section of city-based intellectuals, owing allegiance to the opposition Trinamool Congress, Tuesday alleged that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) was bringing in cadres from outside to create trouble and destabilise the voting process. 'The CPI-M is bringing in cadres from outside to create disturbances on the day of polling.

May 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A majority of Indian firms believe that there is a need to evaluate the performance of the top management and board members and to link the salaries of chief executives to corporate performance, said a report released by auditing major KPMG Wednesday. The report, 'The State of Corporate Governance in India: 2008', prepared on the basis of a corporate governance poll conducted by KPMG in India, said about 85 percent of the respondents said linking CEO remuneration to company performance would help improve corporate governance.

April 17th, 2009 KOLKATA - A section of intellectuals and other eminent persons in West Bengal supporting the state's ruling Left Front have issued an appeal calling upon the people to establish a Third Front government at the centre. Bringing out a booklet 'Which Way Is The Country Heading This Time', actors, sportsmen, theatre personalities, writers, poets, filmmakers and painters also urged the masses to vote for Left Front candidates in the state in the Lok Sabha polls.

April 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A political party with a national perspective was needed for delivering good governance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Wednesday. Talking to members of the Editor's Guild, Manmohan Singh asserted he was an able prime minister and spoke about the contribution of his Congress party in nation building.

April 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) will join the central government if the situation so demands after the Lok Sabha polls, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here Sunday. 'If the situation so demands, we will join (the ministry).

April 9th, 2009 KOLKATA - A section of city intellectuals opposed to West Bengal's Left Front (LF) government Thursday released their election manifesto demanding fair and peaceful voting in the coming Lok Sabha polls in the state. Releasing the manifesto, the intellectuals appealed to all political parties and electorate to consider the points mentioned in the four-page proposal sheet.

February 4th, 2009 MUMBAI - The financial market regulator Thursday said corporate India had to be more transparent with shareholders and ensure corporate governance in the post-Satyam scenario. 'Two actions which are being regarded by SEBI are: to require all listed companies to obtain peer audit done, and in case of pledging of promoter shareholding, to make this price sensitive information available to all other shareholders,' said Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman C.B.

January 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The second Administrative Reforms Commission Saturday released its 11th report that calls for promoting the application of IT in government functioning. 'Through e-governance we want to promote the application of information and communication technology in government functioning to create Simple, Moral, Accountable and Transparent (SMART) governance,' the report said.