-The Hindu Court says appellants deserve no sympathy but modifies death sentence Holding that the age of the accused and the possibility of their reformation were determining factors, the Supreme Court has redefined the ‘rarest of rare’ cases and awarded 30-year imprisonment to two accused who murdered four persons in August 2000. Giving this ruling, a Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said, “Age, definitely, is a factor which cannot be...

-Outlook The sorts of corruption that matter are a purview of privileged     “An intellectual man can be a good man but he may easily be a rogue. Similarly an intellectual class may be a band of high-souled persons, ready to help, ready to emancipate erring humanity, or it may easily be a gang of crooks or a body of advocates of narrow clique from which it draws its support.”     —B.R....

-Live Mint Of the total amount paid to media firms (around 40% of the poll expenses of parties), the EC estimates half to be towards paid news The Election Commission of India (EC) has estimated the market in so-called paid news, or political advertising masquerading as journalism, at as much as `500 crore.   The move is likely to buttress demands for greater scrutiny of election expenses. EC has been seeking to crack down...

-The Hindu Patna: The rejection of the Lokpal committee’s recommendation on transfer of CBI officers had exposed the government’s intention of maintaining a grip on the investigating agency, senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat said at a press conference here on Friday. “There is a question mark on the understanding of the ruling alliance on Lokpal. They forcibly passed the Bill in the Lok Sabha and when it was...

-Live Mint Income-tax department says firm had underpriced intragroup share transfer by Rs 15,000 cr and evaded taxes consequently The Indian arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc , Shell India Pvt. Ltd, has been accused by the income-tax (I-T) authorities of underpricing an intragroup share transfer by ` 15,000 crore and consequently evading taxes, said a person familiar with the development.   Following the notice, which is one of the biggest transfer pricing orders...