-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that if states play vote-bank politics by obstructing central projects, such tactics will amount to a "breakdown of constitutional machinery". The court made the observation today while coming down heavily on the Jayalalithaa government for stalling a central gas pipeline project by citing farmers' interests. "We are not against farmers. But you can't prevent the project which is in national interest. If you (the...

-NDTV NREGA, today celebrating its 10th anniversary, has received a hostile reception from the current political dispensation. The Rajasthan Chief Minister questioning the need for a law, the then Rural Development minister's suggestion to limit NREGA to a few districts, and the Prime Minister's speech in Parliament in 2015 reveal the BJP's hostility and double standards (NREGA was passed unanimously in 2005). Yet, it would be wrong to lay the entire blame...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The three private power distribution companies (discoms) in the capital enjoyed funding of more than Rs 5,000 crore from the Delhi government since their inception on July 1, 2002, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said while justifying its stand on auditing their accounts. "Considering that the discoms enjoyed funding of more than Rs 5,000 crore from the state by way of equity, debt, transferred...

-The Hindu More significant than the issue of whether women should be allowed entry into the Sabarimala temple is the question of whether secular judges ought to be the ones making that call. The more the state takes over the task of social reform, the less likely is the desired change to emerge from within the society Last week, the Supreme Court declared that it would hear a public interest litigation (PIL)...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a jolt to hundreds of builders who have completed housing projects without environment clearance, the Supreme Court on Friday termed such constructions illegal, conceding that it might have committed a mistake by previously staying a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order halting construction of these projects. The NGT had struck down the UPA government's 'office memorandum' (order) in 2012 and the amendment to it in 2013,...