-The Times of India   Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has returned centrestage, though armed with a political and electoral agenda this time. He has warned the ruling Congress that he will campaign against it in five states going to polls next year - unless the government adopts the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament's forthcoming Winter session. The Gandhian seems to have abandoned his earlier non-political stance, now identifying the Congress as a...

For non-coal firms, amount will be equivalent to their royalty The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the landmark Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011 that provides for mining companies to keep aside 26 per cent of their net profits for a Mineral Development Fund to be used for the development and rehabilitation of project-affected people in tribal areas. For the non-coal companies, the amount will be equivalent to...

-The Hindu   Speakers at a meeting convened by the Left parties here on Saturday on SC, ST Sub-Plans said that the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the State were still being subjected to social and government discrimination. Respecting them properly was the prerequisite to the effective implementation of the SC, ST Sub-Plans effectively, they felt. The speakers suggested booking of criminal cases against the officials who fail to spend or divert the...

-The Pioneer   The Government may go for a comparative study of RTI in different countries in order to check its misuse. The Government will table Public Procurement Policy Bill and a Bill on electoral reforms to check corruption in the public arena. “Undoubtedly, RTI is being misused…Even judges feel that it is hampering the work of courts in matters of decisions and appointments of judges…We can have comparative study on it,” said...

Social activist Anna Hazare has now threatened the Maharashtra government with a fast-unto-death if his version of Jan Lokayukta Bill is not passed in the Assembly by the end of Winter session. He wrote a letter to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday, saying that he would go on a fast-unto-death at Saint Dnyaneshwar Samadhi at Alandi near Pune if the Bill was not passed. The state already has a Lokayukta...