-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government is considering a ban on opinion polls with the notification of Lok Sabha elections in line with the views of the election commission. The proposed ban may be implemented before the dates of the parliamentary elections, likely to be held in April-May, are announced. In its draft legislation on debarring charged MPs/MLAs from contesting elections, the law ministry has included a provision that provides...

-The Hindustan Times Strengthened by Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) is set to be rendered toothless by the Manmohan Singh government. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), headed by the PM, introduced an amended version of the Act in Parliament late last year. If the amendments are passed, it may be impossible to investigate and prosecute cases similar to the 2G, Bofors and coal allocation...

-The Hindustan Times Kolkata: President Pranab Mukherjee will meet shortly two groups of people who will give him the lowdown on the deteriorating law and order situation in West Bengal, the state he represented for more than 40 years in Parliament. The All India Democratic Women's Association, the women's wing of the opposition CPI(M), is planning to approach him on the rising incidents of crime and violence against women and the alleged...

-The Hindustan Times Misunderstandings about the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pervasive. The media coverage of the recent WTO meetings at Bali has added to the confusion. The bone of contention was the government procurement of the food grains in India under the National Food Security Act. The final outcome is a stopgap arrangement that has bought the Indian government some time; most importantly, it does not have to undertake any...

In its latest report, the Statistical Year Book, India 2014 conveys that India is clearly on track to attain the MDG-2 (achieve universal primary education) and MDG-8 (develop a global partnership for development). However, the results are either mixed or poor in terms of India's performance in achieving the rest of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The chart below provides the MDG scenario from a bird's eye view.   The new...