-The Business Standard Quick step by govt to provide alternate source only hope for Lanjigarh refinery Bhubaneswar: The 12-0 drubbing in gram sabhas held to seek a referendum on bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills has pushed into uncertainty the fate of Rs 5,000 crore one million tonne refinery of Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) at Lanjigarh, which is struggling to stay in operation by sourcing bauxite from different places outside Odisha. The Dongaria tribes of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Accepting the argument of political parties that poll promises or "freebies" are related to the Directive Principles of State Policy, the Election Commission is considering a pragmatic set of guidelines that would allow freebies as long as they are targeted at the economically and socially weaker sections, religious minorities, women and populations living in remote, border or insurgency/disaster-hit areas. Directive principles are broad policy guidelines considered...

-The Hindu R.P. Gupta, Principal Secretary to Government of Gujarat, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, writes: "In Gujarat, PDS is exclusionary, leaky, getting worse" (August 17), your Correspondent Rukmini S., mainly focuses on the alleged weakness of the Gujarat Public Distribution System based on old data. It is clear that she has not countered any of the points raised by the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The article mentions some analysis of...

-The Hindu Tribal Affairs Minister Kishore Chandra Deo has criticised the Union and State governments for disinvesting in public sector companies to permit private entities to mine in tribal-dominated Schedule V areas, calling the move unconstitutional. In a letter to Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, Mr. Deo said, "Circumventing the constitutional provisions through disinvestment is being done in a stealthy manner through decisions of the government instead of adhering to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre and states to respond to two PILs seeking an independent probe into midday meal scheme-related deaths and alleged laxity in enforcing guidelines to ensure healthy food in the welfare scheme. The PILs - by an NGO through advocate Shobha and another by Sanjeeb Panigrahi - said they were approaching the court "in the wake of horrifying incidents of...