Devas Multimedia has approached the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) seeking Restoration of its contract with Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) commercial arm Antrix which was terminated in February after allegations of wrongdoing emerged over the allocation of S-band spectrum. In February, the UPA government scrapped the controversial contract between Antrix Corporation and Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia for the lease of space segment in S-band. The government had said that it could...

This is a unique situation. For governments, development authorities, lenders and borrowers alike. On Wednesday, a Supreme Court (SC) Bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi upheld a verdict of the Allahabad High Court that quashed acquisition of 176 hectares of land from farmers in Greater Noida stating that the authorities were “sub-serving” private builders in the name of public inteRest. Land purchased from the government was always considered ‘clean’. This verdict,...

The government will set up statelevel independent bodies to carry out financial and social audits of its flagship rural employment guarantee programme, which critics say is riddled with corruption. The rural development ministry will also make it mandatory for state governments to submit a report on the social audit, which unlike other government audits, allows beneficiaries of the scheme to register complaints. The move to increase transparency in the Mahatma...

With Chhattisgarh and the Centre almost decided on filing review petitions against the Supreme Court judgment on the Salwa Judum, it has been left to the petitioners in the case to underscore the historic and constitutional significance of the verdict and to point out to the two governments that any review petition would necessarily strike at the core human values enshrined in the Constitution. In a blow to both the Central...

As we close in on 20 years of Manmohanomics, it's worth remembering one chant the chattering classes uttered, first with pride, later to console themselves. “Whatever you say, we have the most honest man in Dr. Manmohan Singh. And no one can speak a word against him.” It's less heard now — those affections having been transferred to other punters in the honesty sweepstakes. But growing numbers do say this...