Farmers will not have to cough up any tax upfront on the compensation money they receive for their land acquired by the government. The rural development ministry has clarified after complaints that in absence of clear rules the harshest provisions were being imposed. "We have issued orders that all compensation money for agricultural land acquisitions in both urban and rural areas should be made without any deductions," said an official in...

-Xinhua   Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions, and other chronic diseases increasingly threaten the health and economic security of many lower and middle-income countries, the World Bank warned on Thursday in a report. The World Bank cautioned that the rise of chronic diseases, especially among young working adults in these countries, was a danger that warranted immediate global attention. According to the report entitled “The Growing Danger of Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs):...

-The Hindu   Nothing is more reflective of the confusion and mix-up of priorities of the United Progressive Alliance government than the mismanagement of fuel pricing. While struggling to control inflation through monetary policy, the government sees no problem in allowing oil marketing companies to continually raise the price of petrol. The latest hike, by more than Rs.3 a litre, comes on top of the two substantial increases earlier this year. Although...

-The Times of India   The finance ministry is devising a voluntary tax disclosure scheme that could provide amnesty to people who have stashed unaccounted money in tax havens and other jurisdictions abroad by charging them a "levy". Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, after a meeting with industry captains recently, activated a committee on black money set up last year to work out a scheme on voluntary disclosure. This scheme will allow corporates and...

*Rs 19,000 to Atria Hotel for ‘Nithin Gadkari sir friends’ on August 31, 2010. *Rs 44,000 for a money counting machine on September 9, 2010. *Rs 10,000 for the wedding of a journalist’s son. *Footwear for G Janardhan Reddy’s son. As the CBI pursues former Karnataka minister G Janardhan Reddy and his illegal mining activities, details emerging from the computers and diaries of close associates of the mining baron are providing investigating agencies a...