-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The ban on news on private and community radio channels could be lifted soon. The information & broadcasting ministry is learned to be reconsidering its stand that insists on a government monopoly on radio news. Commercial and community radio are currently not allowed to broadcast news or current affairs. Ministry sources say the re-think is because of a combination of reasons. For one, the Supreme Court recently...

-Outlook Raipur (Chhattisgarh): Slow pace of development work resulting in blockage of over Rs 8 crore and alleged irregularities in implementation of MGNREGA through payment of excess wages to labourers have been noticed in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district. As against 865 works sanctioned under 13th Finance Commission, only 391 works were completed and against allotment of Rs 16.20 crore, expenditure of only Rs 7.97 crore was made and Rs 8.23 crore was blocked,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has asked the Centre and states to pay employees with hearing impairment the same monthly transport allowance they have been paying the visually and physically challenged, saying the law didn't allow "discrimination" based on disabilities. The court's human touch came on a plea by the Deaf Employees Welfare Association, which said that except for Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, no other state was extending them the...

-The Hindustan Times Many ongoing projects including housing and industries will brace for an escalation in costs as the new land law has come into force on Wednesday. The much-touted Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation and Resettlement law-that provides four times hike in rural land price-will apply to all projects where compensations are yet to be given for land acquisition. Industries like the housing or hotels will be forced to...

-The Times of India Ashok Khemka has become famous as a much-transferred IAS officer, but he is far from being the only one to have been shunted ever so often. An analysis of the executive record (ER) sheets of thousands of IAS officers currently in service reveals that frequent transfers are depressingly common. It shows that about two-thirds of the officers have had average tenures of 18 months or less. The analysis...