-The Times of India NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday sought clarifications from senior Cabinet ministers on the justification for bringing an ordinance that allows convicted lawmakers to hold on to their seats in Parliament and state Legislatures. The President, who was forwarded the ordinance cleared by the Cabinet on Tuesday, sought clarifications separately from home minister Sushil Shinde, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath and law minister Kapil Sibal. The inquiry came...

-The Hindu The United Progressive Alliance has brazened it out on another piece of legislation aimed at cosseting and mollycoddling the political class. The Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2013, which overturns a Supreme Court order mandating the disqualification of lawmakers immediately upon their conviction, offends for two reasons. First, the ordinance marks the backdoor entry of a bill that faced opposition in the monsoon session of Parliament....

-Kafila.org This fact-finding exercise was coordinated by the CENTRE FOR POLICY ANALYSIS. Team members were the human rights activist and former civil servant Harsh Mander; former Director-General of the Border Security Force, E N Rammohan; Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University; National Integration Council member John Dayal; senior journalist Sukumar Muralidharan and CPA Director and senior editor Seema Mustafa. Introduction and Overview The first impression of the Muzaffarnagar countryside, now green...

-The Pioneer Forget about doling out mandatory unemployment allowance under the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), majority of the Congress-ruled States in the country are yet to notify unemployment allowance rules under the UPA's flagship rural job scheme launched in 2007. The rules mandate the States to pay the daily allowance to a registered worker if he is not provided a job within 15 days of the receipt...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Government and opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday presented a joint front to indict judiciary on diverse counts - from corruption, favouritism and nepotism to compromises due to lust of post-retirement jobs and benefits - as they approved a bill which seeks to scrap the collegium system of appointing judges. The Constitution amendment ending judiciary's monopoly in appointing judges by giving executive a crucial role...