-The Hindu Once a Bill is tabled in Parliament after Cabinet nod, there can be no bar on disclosing the contents The Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled that once a Bill has been tabled in Parliament, the Cabinet decision and file notings relating to it can be made public. Ordering the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to produce the Cabinet note, papers and file notings relating to the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority...

-The Times of India The UPA is likely to rejig the Sonia Gandh-led National Advisory Council(NAC) with four members of the government think-tank for social sector reforms — Jean Dreze, M S Swaminathan, Harsh Mander and Madhav Gadgil — being dropped at the end of their second year tenure. Dreze, an economist and one of the most prominent faces of the NAC, who had strongly advocated for a universal food security, had...

-The Telegraph Trinamul Congress leaders today criticised governor M.K. Narayanan for saying that “legal advice” from the administration did not talk of seeking presidential assent for the Singur law. “I thought we did not require the president’s approval. That was the legal advice also. If the high court felt otherwise, it’s fine. That’s ok. What can we do?” the governor had said in response to a question yesterday. A Calcutta High Court division...

I personally feel we have no option but to move gradually towards organic farming. I am not someone who usually goes shopping for vegetables or even other food stuff. My present professional requirements don’t allow me this luxury. But I remember when I was a child I would often accompany my mother or my aunt when they went shopping for vegetables, fruits and other food stuff. I remember being thoroughly bored...

-Tehelka Justice Sujata Manohar on how the Biotechnology Bill is fundamentally flawed IN THE last few years, regulatory systems across the board have been undergoing an overhaul to fit the needs of a new era. Likewise, new laws are being chalked out to meet new needs, and several are receiving flak owing to the loopholes and regressive grounds on which these have been drafted. The relatively more recent one to regulate modern...