From cleaning up ancient rocks to getting our POWs back, from putting the whistleblower mechanism in place to ensuring pure drinking water in Pune, The Indian Express has been doing what it is committed to: making a difference.

Pump up the jam

The beginnings of 2002’s biggest expose were innocuous enough. On July 21, Rakesh Sinha and Dalip Singh reported how then Petroleum Minister Ram Naik tinkered with selection committee rules to allot petrol pumps and LPG dealerships to friends and family-members of the BJP and its allies, drawing severe strictures from the Supreme Court. Sustained old-fashioned investigative reporting by Express correspondents all over the country showed how far the favours extended: Every day for more than a week, the paper listed names of petroleum product dealers who had acquired their allotments since January 2000—and their connections with the BJP

Bihar's bloodless murder

In August 2002, 10 days after the country celebrated the 35th anniversary of its independence, Sankarshan Thakur’s report on 40,000 Bihar government employees who had not been paid for at least 10 years shook a nation out of complacency. Beginning with The Sunday Express on August 25, 2002, Express correspondents began putting humble, middle-class faces to this tale of desperation. There was Paritosh Bhattacharya, a clerk with Bihar Agro Industries, who had not been paid his Rs 6,000 salary for 10 years and whose son set himself on fire on Independence Day. The Bihar government washed its hands of the ‘Bloodless Murder’, claiming, ‘‘Paritosh Bhattacharya’s salary is not the responsibility of the state government’’ because Bihar Agro was under liquidation.

Rape of the rock

Along the Manali-Rohtang Pass, Express reporter Jatin Gandhi spotted something that hundreds of eyes had passed over without thinking. Rockfaces millions of years old were plastered with paint for advertisements for MNC brands and small-time entrepreneurs. In his first report on August 11, Gandhi quoted outraged geology experts, who confirmed that the rocks were part of an ancient ecosystem, which was threatened the moment the chemicals were slapped on. Even as Pepsi and Coke head offices passed the buck to their local franchisees, the MBD Books general manager claimed there was no pollution caused at all.

The Great Indian Bank Robbery

In December 2002, Samar Halarnkar, Ritu Sarin, George Mathew and Sucheta Dalal contributed to a series that shook the Indian economic establishment. Through painstaking, old-fashioned newsgathering, they compiled a list of India Inc defaulters who pleaded penury when it came to returning loans to banks and financial institutions, but led caviar lifestyles away from the media glare. The Mardias, Mafatlals, Lloyds Group, Modern Group, Parasrampuria Group and sundry other captains of industry together owed Rs 110,000 crore, a humungous figure that would inevitably affect the man on the street’s home loan and savings. ‘‘This is loot, not debt,’’ said then Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.

The Bihar Flood Scam

In April, Verghese K George, Express’ Patna correspondent, sniffed out possibly the biggest scam of 2005. Money and flood-relief material worth nearly Rs 13 crore had disappeared down a black hole. Sustained investigation indicated the complicity of then Patna District Magistrate Gautam Goswami and some local politicians. Over 10 days, reports revealed how funds went to a firm with a similar acronym as the official relief supplier, how a small-time politician amassed a fleet of cars and how the relief material found its way into a local politician’s block, which wasn’t even flood-hit. how a small-time politician amassed a fleet of cars and how the relief material found its way into a local politician’s block, which wasn’t even flood-hit.

The rescue of a city

Once the country’s biggest global brand, Bangalore’s downslide caught up swiftly with its strides. Bangalore Crumbling was a five-part series beginning December 5, 2004. Samar Halarnkar went deep into the city’s underbelly, digging out the facts behind the fall. And there were many. The Bangalore International Airport, despite getting a clearance, was grounded. The roads were in a shambles and PWD minister H D Revanna (Deve Gowda’s son) deflected the blame by strangely accusing the IT industry of not fixing them. Worse, the state government routinely ignored the Bangalore Agenda Task Force, the city’s unique urban task force, headed by Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani.