-PTI Government auditor CAG on Friday said private firms are likely to gain Rs 1.86 lakh crore from coal blocks that were allocated to them on nomination basis instead of competitive bidding, which amounted to the loss to national exchequer. The CAG in its report, tabled in Parliament, names 25 companies including Essar Power, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Jindal Steel and Power which have got the blocks in various states. "Delay...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: How can a Union minister go around issuing statements on the commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant when a court is still seized of the matter, the Madras high court asked on Thursday.  "He says the plant is going to be opened shortly. If that is so, why do you come to court?" asked a bench of Justices P Jyothimani and P Devadoss. Though the bench...

-The Hindu But don’t lose sight of judicial independence, he tells govt Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia, while making it clear that the judiciary was not afraid of laws to make judges accountable, cautioned the government not to tinker with its independence. “I would request the government that accountability be balanced with judicial independence.” In enacting laws, the concept of judicial independence should not be lost sight of. For, “decisional independence and...

-Pratirodh Bureau Activists led by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar have alleged that the much awaited Land Acquisition Bill was actually a "diluted version" of the Standing Committee's recommended bill.   The activists under belonging to various groups, including National Alliance of People’s Movements, National Forum of Forest people and Forest Workers, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and Sangharsh claimed that the "positive" position taken by the Standing Committee had been diluted by the...

-Open the Magazine It was good, it was brief There is a type of talented Indian who lives in the United States with his austere wife to whom he lost his virginity, and has two children who are good at spelling. He walks with a mild slouch. He is still intimidated by White waiters, but not Black waiters. In an elevator, chiefly in an elevator, he suspects he is probably small. He...