-The Hindu The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has served notices to 14 authorities directing them to remove all boards, nails and advertisements from trees falling under their jurisdictions and has directed the authorities to de-concretise the trees. Following a petition filed by Aditya N. Prasad and others, the Tribunal issued notices to three Union Ministries - Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Human Resources Development and the Ministry of Urban Development...

-The Telegraph Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) today asked Saradha Realty India to wind up its collective investment schemes and refund investors within three months. The company as well as its managing director Sudipto Sen have been prohibited from accessing the capital markets until all collective investment schemes are wound up and the refunds are complete. Legal proceedings and steps to wind up Saradha Realty would also be...

-The Times of India KOLKATA: The inferno triggered in a million homes by the Saradha meltdown has singed the ruling Trinamool Congress. The heat was palpable at an informal meeting of Trinamool MPs at Parliament's Central Hall on Tuesday when the knives were out against the tainted partymen who have harmed Didi's Ma-Mati-Manush image. With Sudipta Sen in custody, at least two heads in the Trinamool are set to roll, say party...

-Live Mint The experience of Kerala and Tripura shows how panchayati raj can help in the empowerment of women Chulubari (Tripura)/Kanjikuzhy (Kerala): Her relatives warned Hena Das, a resident of Chulubari in Tripura, against taking up political office because it wasn't "meant for women". Das disregarded the warnings. Two years on, she has no regrets. She also has no male colleagues; her fellow representatives on the board of an 12-member panchayat are all...

-Down to Earth Two developments in the last week essay the progress of panchayatiraj in the past 20 years. The Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj issued public notifications asking village panchayats to hold the next village council meeting in April/May. It is an irony that the highest unit of government i.e. the union government decides the dates of meetings for the lowest tier of governance. The notification violates the letter and...