-PTI The government may grant the Income Tax department powers to re-open tax returns of beyond six years in specific cases of black money where "foreign assets" are involved. The I-T department needs these powers to pursue the ongoing cases where funds were found to be stashed abroad and these came to LIGht after India received a classified list of bank account holders which include those in HSBC bank Geneva and LGT...

Central Empowered Committee has recommended cancellation of 49 leases The Karnataka Government has requested the Supreme Court to revoke the suspension of 117 mining leases listed under categories A and B by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC). The Supreme Court-appointed CEC has recommended cancellation of 49 mining leases listed under Category C, where iron ore was being mined illegally. It has recommended resumption of operations in 45 mining leases listed under Category...

-The Hindustan Times   The Delhi high court on Wednesday directed the newly appointed administrator of Arya Anathalaya to look into the alleged incidents of sexual abuse and harassment of children inside the orphanage at Daryaganj. A bench headed by acting chief justice AK Sikri and justice RS Endlaw also made it clear that it would go into the "larger issue" of registration of orphanages in the capital. Lieutenant Governor had appointed an administrator...

The irrationality and waste in energy subsidies in India has been a perennial theme in analysis of the Indian economy and in reform prescriptions. Progress has, however, turned out to be elusive in the face of ground realities and feasible politics.  The power ministry, after struggling for over a decade through repeated exhortations, had the satisfaction of getting a resolution in a Chief Ministers Conference in 2001 that free supply of...

Deteriorating weather conditions seem to have triggered serious concern among farmers with their rabi crop of wheat being highly prone to diseases such as yellow rust that strike during this period. Though no case of yellow rust affecting rabi crops has been detected in Nainital district, some cases of the disease affecting crops have come to LIGht in parts of Udham Singh Nagar district, officials said. If yellow rust is detected, a...