-The Hindu “Environmental impact assessment tends to ignore wider impact on biodiversity” In a move that will bring cheer to wildlife lovers but could dismay industry lobbyists already complaining about the difficulty in obtaining green clearances, the government plans to add biodiversity conservation as a new criterion to grant environmental and forest clearances. “There is no biodiversity clearance till now,” admitted Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, speaking ahead of the United Nations summit...

-NDTV The Kelkar committee has said subsidies pose the greatest risk to the country's fiscal situation, while suggesting that the excise and service tax rates should be cut to 8% over the next few years. The panel calls for the need to step up disinvestment drive in state-run firms for fiscal consolidation. It says diesel should be deregulated by 2014 and all subsidy on cooking gas be cut by 2015. All subsidies must be...

-PTI The Group of Ministers, formed to examine certain provisions of the controversial Land Acquisition Bill, has deferred its decisions on the legislation today. "We will decide next time. This week, I am going to Vietnam and I will be back on October 4. After that, we will meet. Three members gave their views. No decision happened today," Agriculture Minister and GoM Chairman Sharad Pawar told reporters after the meeting. The government had...

-The Times of India The government on Thursday seized upon Supreme Court's ruling that auctions are not mandatory for allocating natural resources as a validation of its stand against the comptroller and auditor general's (CAG) findings in the 2G spectrum and Coalgate cases. Talking to media after the verdict, telecom minister Kapil Sibal and law minister Salman Khurshid welcomed the judgment, suggesting it had vindicated the government's position. Sibal said all constitutional authorities...

-The Times of India The ministerial panel vetting the land acquisition bill witnessed strong demand on Thursday that it kick in retrospectively. Urban development minister Kamal Nath is reported to have argued that a window for applying the new bill for old cases of acquisition should be retained. If the demand gains traction, it could reopen a significant section of the draft legislation which initially had the retrospective clause but was later...