-The Hindustan Times India's ailing economy has found a new scapegoat - environment and forests. For most things that go wrong these days, from power shortage to slow growth, the blame is tossed at the door of the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), the paradigm being that forests, wildlife and green laws are hurdles to development. So much so, that a Group of Ministers established to 'rationalise' coal mining in forests...

-The Hindu Former Cabinet Secretary Chandrashekhar deposes before JPC The former Cabinet Secretary, K.M. Chandrashekhar’s shocking revelation on Thursday to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigating the 2G scam that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had ignored his recommendation that an entry fee of Rs. 36,000 crore be charged for spectrum, has brought the ghost of the 2G scam back to the Prime Minister’s doorstep. Mr. Chandrashekhar’s disclosure that he had submitted a note...

-Outlook Hyderabad: New approaches such as PubLIC Private Partnerships(PPP) and community-based activities would go a long way in maintaining healthy ecosystems and improving livelihoods, a senior World Bank official said here today. Observing that there is not enough pubLIC money to invest in the biodiversity needs of the world, Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development, said new approaches are needed to finance nature conservation efforts. The World Bank has a...

-The Hindu A top official in the Haryana government’s land registration department was transferred hours after he initiated a probe into all the land dealings of Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in four districts of the State neighbouring Delhi, The Hindu can disclose. The transfer order came on October 11, 2012 — even as the country was still digesting the allegations made by India Against Corruption of a nexus...

-The Times of India Medicines in India may not be sold under brand names in the near future. In its biggest move to push generic drugs and do away with brand names, the Union health ministry has ordered states to stop issuing LICence for the manufacture or sale of drugs on the basis of their brand name. All pharmaceutical firms applying for LICence to market or manufacture fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs will...