-The Times of India Get ready for a hike in autorickshaw fares. After a spate of strikes by autorickshaw unions, the Delhi government is considering the recommendations of the committee set up to review fare hike. "The government is serious about the fare hike, especially as it has been some time since the last revision," said a source. The transport minister, Ramakant Goswami, has been holding a series of meetings with the...

-Pragoti The magnificent victory of the CPI(M)-led Left Front in Tripura - winning 50 out of the 60 seats – and the success of the LF candidate in the Nalhati by-election in West Bengal has been interpreted as a “re-emergence” of the Left parties by a senior CPI(M) leader. This does not seem to be a rigorous assessment. While the fifth consecutive win by the LF in Tripura is a matter of...

-The Hindu Raipur: The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) has completed the process of handing over four audit reports to the Chhattisgarh government. The first report was submitted on March 5 and the last on Monday, said a press release from the office of the Accountant-General (Audit) here. The CAG’s report on commercial mining of coal blocks in Chhattisgarh last year indicated that the former BJP president, Nitin Gadkari’s close aide, Ajay Sancheti, had...

-Live Mint Govt reiterates it will crack down hard on tax evaders, defends steps introduced in Finance Bill to check evasion The government on Tuesday reiterated its intention to crack down hard on tax evaders and defended some of the stringent provisions introduced in the Finance Bill last week to check evasion, including granting wider powers of arrest to taxmen and making certain offences non-bailable. Finance minister P. Chidambaram, in his budget speech...

-Live Mint Evasion of duty of over Rs.50 lakh to be made non-bailable offence; arrest provisions under service tax proposed The government may find itself in hot water on budget proposals that make duty evasion beyond a certain threshold a non-bailable offence, allow arrest on suspected withholding of service tax, and provide tax authorities powers to recover dues from a defaulter’s bankers.   Although finance minister P. Chidambaram in his budget presentation on 28...