-The Hindu When the draft provisions relating to the Comptroller and Auditor General were under consideration in the Constituent Assembly, Dr. B.R Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, said: “I am of the opinion that this dignitary or officer is probably the most important officer in the Constitution of India. He is the one man who is going to see that the expenses voted by Parliament are not exceeded, or varied from what has been...

-The Times of India Over-the-counter sale of around 92 antibiotic and anti-tuberculosis drugs in India will be restricted soon. Drug Controller General of India G N Singh has written to the Union health minister to notify a new schedule, H1, in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules. Once notified, following clearance from the law ministry, these drugs cannot be sold without prescription. The drugs will also have to carry a prominent label in red...

-The Times of India Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said he would not dilute the compensation package and rehabilitation norms in the draft land acquisition bill, throwing a challenge at ministerial colleagues who last week dubbed it anti-industry to block its approval by the Cabinet. "This bill is part of the political agenda of Congress and we are a political party. These people should know we are in government, they are ministers...

-The Times of India The government may be standing firm against scrapping coal block allotments to private companies but a high-level official panel for monitoring progress in these mines is pitching for largescale de-allocation to "defuse the current crisis" over Coalgate. "Out of the 90 coal blocks allocated to private players since 1993, 60 coal blocks with 6.7 billion tonnes (estimated reserves) valued at nearly Rs 2 lakh crore can be cancelled...

-The Hindu India ranks among the lowest in the world in public spending on health, but the private spending is one of the highest. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report (2006) shows over 35 per cent of people who are hospitalised fall below the poverty line because of the expenses that follow, and over 40 per cent have to borrow or sell assets to pay for their care. Private sector provision...