-Frontline How far will the proposed women's bank help marginalised sections when women's SHGs get little support and find it hard even to open accounts in public sector banks? WHILE the recent announcement of a women's bank in the Union Budget has been touted as a progressive measure for the financial inclusion of women, no concrete measures have been forthcoming to make all existing public sector banks sensitive to the needs...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Holding that no person should languish in jail just because no one was willing or available to stand surety for him, the Madras high court ordered the immediate release of 73 undertrial prisoners, who were in jail for long periods despite having got bail. They will all now be released on their own bond. While granting bail, a surety is insisted upon by courts because the person...

-The Pioneer Minister misused Corporate slot to raise funds for family Trust Union Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily could be in the dock for raising funds for his family controlled trust from a corporate giant when he was Corporate Affairs Minister. Moily faces another serious case of conflict of interest as a top official of Reliance Industries is advisor to a company controlled by Moily’s son Harsha Moily. Even earlier, the Minister...

-The Economic Times Finance Minister P Chidambaram has warned corporate bigwigs against wilful defaults, reminding promoters that it was their duty to bring in additional capital if their companies got into trouble. "We cannot have an affluent promoter and a sick company," he said, in an apparent reference to the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines, owned by the flamboyant Vijay Mallya. Banks are stuck with nearly Rs 7,000 crore worth of loans they...

-The Economic Times A Bill that envisages offering the rural poor right to land and a home has invited criticism from states for not consulting them and for being "impractical". Land is a state subject. The National Right to Homestead Bill, 2013 - drafted by a task force chaired by Union minister Jairam Ramesh -would offer a poor family in the country side right to a piece of land of not less...