-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to respond to a public interest petition that sought a stay on the Lokpal Act saying the entire process of selecting the chairperson and members of the anti-graft body was unconstitutional. The petitioner, an NGO, also submitted that several judges of the top court were reported to have expressed their willingness to be considered for judicial members on the panel, which could "seriously...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Allegations that the government was denying services like marriage registration and property sales to people lacking Aadhaar cards today annoyed the Supreme Court, which ordered that any notification making the scheme mandatory must be withdrawn immediately. Solicitor-general Mohan Parasaran assured the court that if any such notification had indeed been issued, it would be withdrawn. Official sources told The Telegraph that no such notification had been issued and that...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: The BJP on Tuesday said it would review the Aadhaar programme if it comes to power at the Centre and demanded a CBI probe into the scheme, alleging it regularized illegal stay of migrants in India. Questioning the UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani's claims on Aadhaar's achievements, BJP national spokeswoman Meenakshi Lekhi termed the programme as a "fraud" perpetrated on the people of the country while seeking the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After registering five FIRs in the alleged irregularities in implementation of centrally-sponsored Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Uttar Pradesh during the rule of Mayawati-led BSP, the Central Bureau of Investigation has reportedly collected important documents related to the scheme from five districts in the state. The agency is expected to call for questioning some senior bureaucrats who were in charge of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: For a country which till recently had a weak civil society movement, India is now witnessing a boom in the NGO sector. With a population of 1.2 billion, the country could well be the land of opportunities for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the Central Bureau of Investigation conservatively estimating 20 lakh of them already operating in states and union territories. The mind-boggling figures boil down to...