Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday said the estimate of black Money stashed abroad by Indians and Indian entities was estimated at between $462 billion and $1.4 trillion and every step within means was being taken to bring it back. He also made it clear that unless there are legal provisions in other countries, the two pacts India has been entering with them -- double tax avoidance treaties and information exchange agreements...

Amit Jethwa had just left his lawyer’s office after discussing a lawsuit he had filed to stop an illicit limestone quarry with ties to powerful local politicians. That is when the assassins struck, speeding out of the darkness on a roaring motorbike, pistols blazing. He died on the spot, blood pouring from his mouth and nose. He was 38. Mr. Jethwa was one of millions of Indians who had embraced...

Terming paid news phenomenon as acomplex problem, the Election Commission today said it couldbest be addressed by "self-regulation" by media and politicalparties which was not happening. The EC is concerned about the undue influence that paidnews can create in the mind of the voter whose right tocorrect and unbiased information needed protection, ChiefElection Commissioner S Y Quraishi said. "In our estimate, the problem of paid news is bestaddressed by self-regulation by media...

India, Switzerland had signed a protocol to amend the DTA last year It is expected to help India get details about illicit wealth India may have to wait till at least next year for information from Switzerland on the possible black Money trail to Swiss banks, as a treaty for the same might come into force only by the end of 2011. The treaty needs to be ratified by various authorities in India...

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday repeated the demand for the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum allocation scam, saying that the issue needed to be investigated on a canvas larger than the Comptroller and Auditor General's “limited” inquiry. Considering the gravity of the irregularities, a “wider and comprehensive” probe was required into the 2G spectrum allocation, Mr. Karat...