-The Times of India   Terming exemptions to the RTI Act introduced through the proposed Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority (NSRA) bill as "regressive", information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi and legal luminary Fali Nariman have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reconsider the amendments in the interest of transparency. Nariman said the amendments were "unnecessary" and against the letter and spirit of the Act. "I am distressed to hear that the government of India proposes...

A report sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by the NGO, Navsarjan, has revealed that dalits in Gujarat are frequently forced to leave their native villages because of clashes with members of forward castes. Denial of entry into temples is another reason for dalit migration in the state, the report states. The NHRC has taken serious note of the allegations made in the report. Earlier this month, it issued...

-The Business Standard The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on Wednesday called for a level playing field for getting information for auditing purposes. Pointing out that responses from government departments were often delayed, CAG Vinod Rai said “the auditor is not given the powers which a man on the street has”. He was speaking at a panel discussion at the Business Standard Annual Awards here on Wednesday. Rai was referring...

-The Telegraph The Mamata Banerjee government’s move to appropriate the financial powers of the zilla parishads in North 24-Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad has set the stage for battle in next year’s panchayat elections. Senior Trinamul leaders said with the financial powers gone, these three zilla parishads have effectively been wrested from the Left. Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said the move to take away the financial powers was an “administrative necessity” as in the...

-Express News Service Eight days after they began an indefinite fast against the nuclear power plant at Koodankulam, the protesting leaders called it off after talks with district authorities this morning. S P Udayakumar and M Pushparayan were among the 15 people who withdrew the fast, but said their struggle would continue until their arrested fellow activists were released. “Until then, shops will be closed, a relay fast will continue, fishermen will...