-The Indian Express The Bharat Krishak Samaj (BSK) has long urged the merger of the agriculture ministry with the water resources and rural development ministries, in the interests of better coordination. With cooperative federalism gaining currency as an idea, that might just become possible. Now, the panchayati raj and food processing ministries could join the club, leaving agriculture, for all practical purposes, to the states, as envisaged by the Constitution. But...

-The Times of India KOLKATA: In yet another legal blow to the Mamata Banerjee government, Calcutta high court on Tuesday upheld the compensation recommended by West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) to Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra, who was arrested in 2012 for forwarding an email joke on the chief minister. Justice Dipankar Datta also ordered a probe into the role of two police officers involved in the arrest of Mahapatra and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Attorney General is not merely a lawyer for the government, but is a constitutional authority, the Delhi High Court has said, bringing the top law officer under the ambit of the RTI Act. Justice Vibhu Bakhru on Tuesday held the office of AG to be a "public authority" as per the transparency act and reversed the decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC). In 2012...

-PTI As on February 23, 2015, approximately 1.46 lakh consumers have voluntarily given up LPG subsidy on their domestic LPG connections. There are no plans to withdraw the facility of subsidised LPG cylinders to financially well off people, even as 1.46 lakh such consumers have voluntarily given up the subsidy, the government said on Tuesday. "As on February 23, 2015, approximately 1.46 lakh consumers have voluntarily given up LPG subsidy on their domestic...

-Business Standard Amendments skip key controversial issues The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has made nine amendments to its land Bill, tabled in Parliament on Monday. Most of these were cosmetic in nature, leaving the key elements of the original promulgation intact - the lack of need for consent and social impact assessment while acquiring land for private projects; public-private partnerships and government acquisitions. Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh did move two amendments...