-The Times of India A study commissioned by the government last year on quantifying black money generated in the country has estimated that the illicit wealth is likely to exceed 10% of GDP or anywhere above Rs 10 lakh crore, given the size of the economy. The 1,000-page report was submitted to the finance ministry by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) in the last week of December. The...

-The Indian Express The audacity of the Latehar ambush, which ended with Maoists implanting explosive devices inside the corpses of CRPF men, comes amid security forces’ claims that the rebels are a declining force. What was probably the cruellest ever assault on security forces came at a time police in several states were praising themselves for having contained Maoists. Over the last 14 months, Maoist violence had declined partly because they had...

-Frontline The Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill is an attempt to circumvent the hurdles before acquisition, such as rehabilitation of land losers, without much increasing the cost of land. THE preamble to the draft Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (LARR) Bill is very noble; it talks about a “humane, informed, consultative and transparent process for land acquisition for industrialisation, development of essential infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least disturbance...

-The Hindustan Times With just three days left before the ongoing winter session winds up, the UPA floor managers are in a hurry to clear its pending legislative agenda. For Tuesday, the government has listed as many as seven bills for discussion and passing. Top government sources indicated that it may list heavy agenda for the remaining two days as well. With a large part of the session already disrupted over the...

-The Business Standard Why the hue and cry over Walmart? Many of India Inc's big ones are no strangers to lobbying in the US  There is a very fine line that separates lobbying from bribery, and there are diverse opinions on what kind of influential pressure on lawmakers qualifies as acceptable, and what doesn't. Quite clearly, bribery is illegal and unacceptable, there is nothing wrong in lobbying per se -- at least...