-The Telegraph A parliamentary panel has recommended that the Union government dissolve the ministry of development of north eastern region (DoNER) and put it under the Prime Minister's Office. The reason for the ministry's dissolution has been attributed to the plummeting efficiency levels and achievement rate in its planned schemes. "The committee, therefore, strongly recommends that the government should consider the handicaps of the DoNER ministry in a very serious manner. It should...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Traffic challans will very soon be paid online across the country and will not constitute a court case. The government has written to all states to make online payment of traffic challans mandatory and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is likely to issue a directive to take challan cases out of the domain of courts. After the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office, the...

-The Telegraph The National Highways Authority of India has accused the Planning Commission of "inconsistencies in stand", saying they are creating confusion and delaying decisions on its projects. NHAI chairperson R.P. Singh has quoted instances - in a letter to commission member B.K. Chaturvedi - where the Planning Commission had taken a diametrically opposite stand from its earlier position that investors should be allowed to exit from finished projects rather than wait...

-The Guardian The government's decision to allow major infrastructure projects to go ahead without obtaining consent for forest clearance paves the way for the violation of village land rights, say rights groups Land and tribal rights in India have been dealt a new blow after the government announced last week that major infrastructure projects will be exempt from obtaining consent for forest clearance from tribal communities living in the forest, a decision...

-Outlook A parliamentary panel, probing road safety issues in the aftermath of the Delhi gangrape case, has expressed serious concern over cases of a large number of buses and autorickshaws in Delhi being registered under fake addresses. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, headed by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, felt that criminals got away easily taking advantage of the duality and multiplicity of the policing and security system in the national capital. It...