-The Business Standard Politics means sugarcane gets Maharashtra's scarce water The drought in a large part of Maharashtra, said to be the worst since 1972, may have been triggered by poor rainfall in the last monsoon season - but it has been compounded by mismanagement of the available water. Nearly one-third of the state's population living in the 15 drought-hit districts in and around the Marathwada region is facing a severe scarcity...

-PTI Kolkata: The Election Commission in West Bengal today moved the Calcutta Hight Court seeking rejection of the government Notification on poll schedule as the state government decided to contest it. The State Election Commission in its petition claimed that Section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Act, which states that the state government is empowered to notify election in consultation with the commission, is unconstitutional. The commission also prayed that it...

-Live Mint MoEF Notification on 5 February says linear projects such as roads, canals wouldn't require gram sabha consent A move by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to exempt promoters of so-called linear projects such as roads, pipelines and canals from seeking the consent of village councils in forest areas will likely be a non-starter unless the government moves to amend the forest rights Act (FRA). MoEF issued a Notification on...

-The Hindu Business Line Kolkata: The West Bengal State Election Commission on Monday moved the High Court seeking a stay on the Notification issued by the State Government regarding panchayat polls (rural polls). The petition was filed before Justice Biswanath Samaddar. The matter is expected to come up for hearing tomorrow. The Panchayat Department of the State Government had last month (in March) issued a Notification to conduct panchayat polls in two phases...

-Down to Earth They turn a blind eye to laws overriding tribal rights, complains national commission GOVERNORS of states with sizeable tribal population have come in for indictment over not performing their special administrative roles. To ensure partial autonomy in tribal areas, the Constitution entrusts governors with immense powers to supervise the administration and governance in such areas. They can allow or disallow any law or development programme in tribal areas to...