-The Indian Express Ahead of the Winter Session, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said the government is reaching out to political parties to seek their support for passage of important economic bills. "The Parliament session has a very heavy legislative agenda. We are reaching out to the various political parties to carry through these agenda in the four weeks that we have for the session", he said addressing a press conference...

-The Hindu The wretched outcome of the 2G spectrum auctions, netting just Rs.9,407.64 crore against a Rs.40,000 crore revenue target, has evoked predictable reactions from the Congress party. Its leaders have indirectly mocked the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Supreme Court and the media for tying the government’s hands — instead of expressing concern about the impact of the failed auctions on investor confidence and India’s worrying fiscal deficit. Their gloating...

-The Indian Express Saying that the government was playing with its order, the Supreme Court Friday expressed its disapproval of the Centre’s decision to not auction the entire 2G spectrum cancelled by the court in February this year and asked for an explanation of its position. “We can tell you clearly that you are not implementing our order but prima facie playing with our order. You were required to put spectrum of...

-The Economic Times The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to immediately explain why it is restricting the sale of airwaves in the upcoming auctions, and not selling all spectrum vacated by the 122 licences whose permits were cancelled earlier this year. But the apex court clarified that the upcoming airwaves sale process, scheduled to begin on November 12 ,would not be deferred, even as it asked the telecom department to...

-Outlook Fresh changes have been made in the draft Land Acquisition Bill under which the consent of landowners for acquiring land for private purpose has been made stiffer following a suggestion from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The percentage of land owners, whose consent is a must for acquiring land for private purpose, has been raised from 67 per cent to 80 in the proposed bill. Disclosing the changes in the measure, Agriculture Minister...