-The Hindustan Times Using his Constitutional powers, tribal affairs minister Kishore Chandra Deo has directed the Andhra Pradesh government to cancel bauxite mining leases to Andhra Pradesh Mining Development Corporation (APMDC) in the state's Aaraku valley to prevent reemergence of naxalism. The corporation has signed Memorandum of Understanding with several private companies to mine bauxite, which, according to Deo, is violation of Alienation of Land Transfer Regulation Act. The law prohibits a non-tribal...

-PTI Chandigarh: Amid outrage over a string of rape cases in Haryana, Khap panchayats in the state have come out with a bizarre suggestion that the marriageable age limit should be abolished. They claim it will check such crimes. But the ruling Congress saw a "conspiracy" in the incidents. "Boys and girls should be married by the time they turn 16 year old, so that they do not stray... this will decrease...

-The Hindu Seeks A-G’s assistance in clarifying issues raised by PIL The Supreme Court will examine the validity of the notification the Centre issued on September 20 of its decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. On Friday, a Bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and Anil R. Dave, without issuing notice, sought Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati’s assistance in clarifying certain issues, and directed advocate M.L. Sharma, who has challenged the...

-The Hindu Property empire was built on soft loans handed out in unusual circumstances, documents show In February, as rumours of the ambitions of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law swirled amidst the heat and dust of the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, her daughter Priyanka moved to scotch speculation about Robert Vadra’s possible political future. “He’s a successful businessman,” the younger Ms. Gandhi said of her husband, “who is not interested in changing...

-The Economic Times A new book by Bibek Debroy on Gujarat looks at how this much-talked about state has performed in economic terms. The author argues history, luck and administrative clarity have been the determining factors. There has been a discernible pickup in Gujarat's growth performance since the 10th Plan (2002-07), the five-year Plans being natural periods for breaking up the timeline. It's tempting to argue that there is nothing exceptional in...