-The Times of India The government is facing a pincer attack over its reform decisions with opposition parties ranging from BJP to the Left planning nation-wide protests, possibly on the same day, against UPA-2's bid to allow FDI in sectors like multi brand retail and civil aviation. Regional parties like Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal (U) also joined the chorus of protests, demanding a rollback of the hike in diesel prices along...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today said it couldn’t be a coincidence that only politicians’ friends, relatives and associates were allotted coal blocks and asked the government to explain why it couldn’t implement a 2004 policy of bidding. “You (the Centre) may have a well-laid-out policy, but is it a coincidence that all the allottees are only politicians’ family, friends and associates?” a bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and Anil R. Dave...

-The Economic Times With carbon markets at an all time low and prospects of international long-term finance dim, the Planning Commission has suggested reworking the Rs 23,000 crore National Action Plan on climate change. It has reduced the number of missions and refocused them in line with "priorities". In 2008, the government had laid out a national strategy that would address India's development concerns and the challenges that climate change would present....

-Live Mint The Sonia Gandhi -led National Advisory Council (NAC) may be moving closer to formulating a pre-legislative process that will involve a thorough, time-bound discussion of Bills before they become law. “The need for such a policy of consultation is necessary to evolve from a representative democracy to a participatory, deliberative democracy, particularly for accountability to the people in the formulation of law and policy,” said the draft recommendation of NAC’s working...

-The Hindu In an atmosphere of mistrust of the government, only an independent safety regulatory mechanism can counter the scaremongering against civilian nuclear power I work at an institution funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (which, however, does no nuclear research: the DAE funds a wide variety of institutions and areas in science). About a year ago, I had an e-mail from a journalist who wondered why scientists (including colleagues at...