-PTI Mamata Banerjee stages reversal of former apathy towards fate of those affected by Saradha Group demise Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee staged a reversal of her former apathy towards the fate of those whose savings had disappeared amid the collapse of the deposit-taking Saradha Group. Having said on Monday that "what has gone, has gone", Banerjee on Wednesday announced a 10 percentage point hike in value-added tax (VAT) on tobacco...

-Live Mint It's obvious that Indian experience with local governance is not what it should have been, but a change is underway Later this week, the country will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the constitutional amendments that made it mandatory for the creation of panchayats-the village-level bodies that deliver self-governance. Most may not be aware that this could well have been the eve of its 25th anniversary, but for the three-vote defeat...

-The Indian Express Report finds govt did not recover dues of Rs 750 cr from distributors. At a time when the opposition BJP plans to intensify protests against power tariff in Delhi, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India's report for the 2011-12 fiscal has slammed the Delhi government for not recovering dues to the tune of Rs 750 crore from private distribution companies. The report, tabled on Tuesday in the Delhi...

-The Hindu Raipur: The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) has completed the process of handing over four audit reports to the Chhattisgarh government. The first report was submitted on March 5 and the last on Monday, said a press release from the office of the Accountant-General (Audit) here. The CAG’s report on commercial mining of coal blocks in Chhattisgarh last year indicated that the former BJP president, Nitin Gadkari’s close aide, Ajay Sancheti, had...

-Live Mint Evasion of duty of over Rs.50 lakh to be made non-bailable offence; arrest provisions under service tax proposed The government may find itself in hot water on budget proposals that make duty evasion beyond a certain threshold a non-bailable offence, allow arrest on suspected withholding of service tax, and provide tax authorities powers to recover dues from a defaulter’s bankers.   Although finance minister P. Chidambaram in his budget presentation on 28...