-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would ensure smooth panchayat polls in West Bengal after the State Election Commission rushed with a petition accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of playing truant in providing adequate security forces for a free and fair voting process. "We will ensure smooth conduct of panchayat elections in West Bengal," the Supreme Court said on Wednesday, displaying steely resolve to defuse...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: The government has banned three popular medicines-the widely prescribed anti-diabetes drug pioglitazone, painkiller analgin and anti-depressant deanxit-in the wake of health risks associated with them. While it's believed that pioglitazone can cause heart failure and increases the risk of bladder cancer, analgin has been discarded the world over on grounds of patient safety. Deanxit, on the other hand is a harmful combination, which has been long...

-ANI Ahluwalia appreciated the State Government for strategy to make growth more inclusive and giving right priority to social sector The Planning Commission has approved an annual plan outlay of Rs 47,000 crore for Karnataka for the year 2013-14. The plan size was finalized in a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here last evening. The plan size has been agreed at Rs. 47,000 crore...

-PTI     FATF is an inter-governmental body that sets standards and promotes policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing for countries across the world. In a major boost to measures being taken by India against money laundering and terror financing activities, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) today said the country has substantially addressed the deficiencies in its regulatory framework and has become largely compliant with global standards in this regard. FATF is...

-The Hindu     Shonali Muthalaly and Anusha Parthasarathy join the queue at an Amma Unavagam in the city and sample the fare as early as seven in the morning We are in the queue at 6.30 a.m. That's if you can call this a queue. Three people stand around sleepily. So much for our mental image of waiting in a hungry Oliver Twist-like queue for idlis! Two more people saunter into the Alwarpet...