-Deccan Herald In an attempt to send a strong message that it is serious in legislative business, the government on Thursday introduced amendments to the landmark Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha, amid disruptions of proceedings by the Opposition over the killing of Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan and other issues. Food Minister K V Thomas moved amendments to the National Food Security Bill, which was originally introduced in Parliament in December...

-The Hindu The Election Commission has disqualified 2,045 candidates who contested by-elections/general elections to the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies of various States and Union Territories for failing to submit their poll expenditure accounts within the stipulated 30 days from the date of announcement of results. These persons, most of them non-serious contestants, will be barred from standing in any election conducted by the EC for three years from the date...

-The Hindu The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the amendments to the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012, piloted by the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry. The Bill is intended to eradicate manual scavenging. The amendments incorporate provisions like identifying manual scavengers through a nation-wide survey and the mandatory inclusion of women in vigilance committees at all levels. The Bill was introduced on September 3, 2012,...

-The Times of India The prospects of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) draft report on the 2G scam being adopted dimmed further, with 15 Opposition MPs on the panel "rejecting" the report that gives Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a clean chit. The same set of MPs, who wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar expressing lack of confidence in JPC chairperson P C Chacko, submitted letters to the committee secretariat, choosing...

-The Hindu     Minister relaxed tax benefit-related residency norms for foreign investors Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday allayed apprehensions over the imposition of wealth tax on agricultural land within urban area limits to provide a big relief to farmers, especially in Haryana and Punjab. Mr. Chidambaram relaxed the tax benefit-related residency norms for foreign investors routing funds through countries such as Mauritius and lowered the withholding tax rate to five per cent from...