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The breach in the relations between Trinamool Congress and Congress only a few months after they came together for the Lok Sabha elections has muddied West Bengal's already murky political waters even further. Those who had presumed that the success of the alliance in the parliamentary polls would pave the way for its victory in the 2011 assembly elections would have to revise their assessments.

NEW DELHI: A constitutionally provided employment programme like the NREGA, which is required to reach every household in six lakh villages in the country, would put to test any Government and its administrative capacity.

New York: The world's countries continue to record substantial improvements in human development but vast inequalities still exist between rich and poor States, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has warned as it unveiled its annual measure of progress in human well-being.

LUCKNOW: The by-elections to one Lok Sabha and 11 assembly seats in November are crucial for all political parties as the results will decide the future course of Uttar Pradesh politics. All major political. Since there is a mad rush of applicants for these 12 seats, it is becoming a difficult task for leadership of alll parties to finalise the candidates.

Are terrorists regrouping in Punjab? Yes, if the intelligence agencies and the state's police brass are to be believed. But Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal says, 'There is no possibility of militants regrouping in Punjab. The state police will not allow regrouping of terrorists'. Whom should the people believe?

New York: Migration benefits the people who move, their host communities and those that stay behind, the United Nations' latest Human Development Report says, calling today for wide-ranging reforms to maximize those gains and to protect the rights of migrants - now estimated to be one out of every seven humans.

If Union Law and Justice Minister Veerappa Moily's crusade against corruption has failed to evoke strong reactions from the rich and the powerful, it could be because of his very approach to the issue and his overwhelming dependence on the legal and judicial side of the matter. The judicial reforms bill which, mandates disclosure of assets of judges of high courts and the Supreme Court and the proposed corrupt public servants (forfeiture of property) bill are most welcome.

Are there signs of the emergence of a homegrown policy paradigm for India at last? It looks like that if one goes by the kind of confabulations within the government- among the political leadership and bureaucracy, and with experts and 'think tank' members. Perhaps, the waning role of the reform enforcers is also a pointer to the sprouting of independent thinking in the UPA establishment. The new thrust, even if it is nascent, marks a clear departure from the past.