-The Indian Express   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s direction to his ministers to update details of their business interests, assets and Liabilities has yielded an interesting profile of his cabinet. The financial status of the powerful — how much wealth they have and how they invest it — always draws curiosity. Dr Singh sticks to fixed deposits, keeping his investment beyond controversy. A.K. Antony’s loan funds a second-hand car. And Kamal...

-Express News Service   On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed his cabinet colleagues to update details of their business interests, assets and Liabilities. In the first such exercise last year, only two cabinet ministers had explicitly declared their interests in private companies — Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Corporate Affairs Minister Murli Deora. Kamal Nath mentioned 23 companies in which either he or his family have a “business interest”. Deora...

-The Hindu   Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has written to Union Ministers reminding them of the mandatory annual disclosure of assets and Liabilities in accordance with the ‘Code of Conduct for Ministers.' Under the code, Ministers have to declare every financial year the list of their assets and Liabilities, including that of family members. The details pertaining to the Financial Year 2010-11 are uploaded on...

To protect the interests of students seeking admission, the Centre is planning a law to check unfair practices in schools, ranging from donations and nexus with coaching centres. The proposed “The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Schools and Intermediate Colleges Bill, 2011” aims at promoting transparency through mandatory self-disclosure in the prospectus and on the website, and provide adequate and accessible recourse for remedial action arising out of non-adherence to self-disclosed...

Mass leaders in India have a tradition of broaching BSP —bijli, sadak and pani — issues to strike a chord during election rallies. However, in almost each of her 150-plus rallies across the state in the election season, Mamata Banerjee deviated from the conventional mix and squeezed into her speech phrases like debt burden, public finance and economic recovery. Whether such esoteric terms found resonance or not, Mamata did get across the...