In Kevadia, Advani holds forth with his glimpses from history.

For the rest of India, an important ruling by the Supreme Court. The SC today said IAS officers will no more take oral orders from their political bosses, and asked for measures to insulate them from victimisation.

A petition had asked for a civil service board to decide on the transfer and postings of officials and rid the bureaucracy of political interference, corruption and inaction.

The court today asked the Central and state governments to set up such boards within three months, and asserted that officials must have fixed tenures.

The judges observed, "Frequent transfers should be avoided so that implementation of the policies and programmes of the government reach the poor people." Read