-IANS   A Bihar court Thursday dismissed the discharge petitions filed by former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, among 11 accused, in a scam related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.47 lakh from the state treasury to purchase fodder for public distribution, court officials said. A designated Central Bureau of Investigation court dismissed the discharge petitions after hearing the arguments in the case. After the arguments were completed in the first week...

Sushma blasts PM & defends RSS role in stir SUSHMA Swaraj, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday of presenting a “ pack of lies” to Parliament on the Anna Hazare episode even as she mounted a strong defence of the BJP’s ideological mother, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS), and its support to the Hazare- led movement. In an agitated speech, interrupted...

Illegal iron ore mining involving hundreds of Indian officials and powerful politicians has devastated local communities in the southern state of Karnataka and cost its treasury more than $3.5 billion in revenue, according to a scathing report by an official anticorruption panel that was released on Wednesday. “In the illegal mining and irregularities committed in the export of iron ore, we have found the involvement of some 100 mining companies,...

-The Times of India   It was not just private sector firms that made a killing out of the Commonwealth Games held last year. In a clear sign of how even public sector units viewed the Games as a windfall, the Comptroller and Auditor General has found that Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) made huge profits out of its contract for Integrated Security System (ISS) for the Games. Given on a "nomination...

This essay describes and compares Parliament and the Supreme Court and examines the relationship between them. Parliament may still be a great institution, but its members are no longer great men. How long can a great institution remain great in the hands of small men? The SC has held its place in the public esteem rather better than the Lok Sabha, despite the occasional allegation of financial impropriety. Parliament, the...