-The Hindustan Times Amid the din of the discordant notes in Parliament and outside on scams, a significant decision by the Union cabinet went almost unnoticed. Earlier this week, the Cabinet amended the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (CLPRA), 1986, and renamed it as the Child and Adolescent Labour Prohibition Act (CALPA). When Parliament passes the important amendments, CALPA, along with the Right to Education (RTE) Act, it is likely...

-The Hindustan Times The Congress on Thursday said the CAG had no mandate to audit the accounts of private companies and sought to debunk the argument that the government should have opted for the auction route. The party also asked the CAG to respond to the debate triggered by its findings about its methodology and working style. Quoting a Supreme Court order in April this year, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said the...

-The Hindustan Times With security forces under pressure to ensure that civilians do not get caught in cross-fire in the Red Corridor, Maoists have started deploying members of the Jan Militia in plains clothes as human shields during attacks on the forces. Home Ministry officials said forces fighting naxals were being advised to account for this strategy in its operations. The naxal change in strategy comes after the June 28 encounter between...

-The Hindustan Times A bill that seeks to strike a balance between economic growth and issues such as natural resources and livelihood of local residents was referred to a group of ministers (GoM) by the cabinet on Tuesday. The decision of the cabinet meant that the bill — titled The Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Bill (previously known as the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement...

-The Hindustan Times The government might be finding it difficult to garner support for reserving 33% seat for women in Parliament but it seems it is doing its bit to empower women in municipalities. The Union cabinet is likely to clear a proposal on Tuesday reserving 50% of the elected seats for women in urban local bodies (ULBs) across the country. At present, only one-third of the seats in the local bodies are...