-The Hindu     Minister relaxed tax benefit-related residency norms for foreign investors Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday allayed apprehensions over the imposition of wealth tax on agricultural land within urban area limits to provide a big relief to farmers, especially in Haryana and Punjab. Mr. Chidambaram relaxed the tax benefit-related residency norms for foreign investors routing funds through countries such as Mauritius and lowered the withholding tax rate to five per cent from...

-The Times of India Less than 24 hours before the Supreme Court takes up the coal scam hearing on Tuesday, a blame game broke out within the government over who was responsible for incorrectly telling the court that the CBI had not shared the contents of its status report on " Coalgate" with the political executive. In a four-page letter to attorney general Goolam Vahanvati, additional solicitor general Harin Raval said he...

-The Times of India The present Lok Sabha could well end up with the dubious distinction of being the least productive in terms of business transacted among those that completed their full five-year terms. According to statistics compiled by the Lok Sabha secretariat, 1,157 hours of sittings had taken place until the 12th session of the 15th Lok Sabha, which was elected in May 2009. Among the Houses that completed five-year terms, the...

-The Hindu Business Line   Arsenic and fluoride contaminated water has condemned millions to live wasted lives in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Business Line visited several villages in the affected regions for this special report by A. Srinivas. Sixty-nine-year-old Renubala Ari of Deganga village in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district is counting her last days. But it is not her death that worries her. Blind in both eyes and with painful...

-The Hindustan Times As the country enters the election year, the UPA government has its task cut out in the form of legislative commitments which are looking increasingly difficult to fulfil. As many as 115 bills (excluding the finance bill) are pending before Parliament. Among these are the land acquisition and food security bills that for obvious reasons are high on the Congress-led coalition's social agenda in a poll year. Ninety-three of...