Statesman News Service KOLKATA: The whole perception of the state government about availability of security forces is unreliable, State Election Commission counsel Samaraditya Pal submitted before Mr Justice Biswanath Somaddar of Calcutta High Court on the last day of the hearing of the challenge to some provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Act today. The judgment of the case will be delivered expeditiously, Mr Justice Somaddar said. Earlier, citing...

-Live Mint Despite being declared unconstitutional by SC, ‘khaps' continue to hold sway in parallel with the state machinery Rohtak/Bhiwani: Ravinder Gehlawat and his wife Shilpa had been married for less than four months when they were marched out of their village-Dharana in Jhajjar district of Haryana-by men of the local community and warned never to return. Their fate was sealed on 24 April 2009 when the local khap panchayat, which translates...

-Live Mint Panchayat-related caste violence continues unabated and has become a part of the social reality today In ancient India, the panchayat system was based on the age-old caste system, social status and family. Although the local self-government concept was introduced in 1882, it took more than 100 years for the local self-government institutions to become a part of the Indian Constitution. While tremendous possibilities have been opened up in the...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Wednesday frowned upon official security cover being provided to the rich, saying if the government and police had been alive to providing adequate security to citizens, then 5/6-year-olds would not have been raped in the country. Even though the government's decision to provide paid security cover through CISF personnel to one of the world's richest businessmen, Mukesh Ambani, did not figure specifically during the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved proposed amendments in the Prevention of Corruption Act, providing a safeguard to retired government officials from unnecessary prosecution for any bona-fide mistake and also broadening the definition of bribery to make a commercial entity liable for failing to prevent bribery of an official. The proposed changes - Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 - also provide for allowing confiscation of...