Opposes changes in bid norms, extra land acquisition and move to allow bidders to develop more than one UMPP The government’s auditor has come down hard on irregularities in the government’s policy on so-called ultra mega power projects, or UMPPs. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), parts of which have been seen by Mint, is with the power ministry for its comment, and could cause further embarrassment...

The Mamata Banerjee government has begun to explore the possibility of modifying a land-ceiling clause to accommodate some concerns of industry. If the proposals are accepted, more industries will be exempt from the land-ceiling rule and transfer of land acquired for setting up industry would be allowed without diluting the new government’s hands-off policy. The land and land reforms department has sent a letter to four departments — commerce and industries, urban...

Consider this. Every time petrol prices rise, oil companies end up losing more money. How? The price differential between petrol and diesel increases further; people start buying diesel-powered vehicles so oil firms bleed more. Even worse, we all bleed because dieselisation adds to toxic pollution in our cities. This, in turn, adds to the health burden and costs. This is all very well accepted. Yet, nobody has done anything to fix...

-The Economic Times   The UPA government - especially the Planning Commission - has been taken to task for fixing a poverty line at a level (Rs 32 per capita/day in urban areas) that does not even guarantee a bare subsistence. In the medley of scathing critiques and rebuttals, three strands of arguments seem dominant. One is that the poverty line is utterly unrealistic as a measure of subsistence requirements of food, health...

Two stories on two days, both from Delhi and both shocking in their revelations. Both involved child abuse. The first story was about a university professor on the run, allegedly after it came to light that he had employed a 10-year-old boy in his house, and worse, regularly beat him. The second story was even more mind-numbing in its details. Sanjana (name changed to protect identity), a 14-year-old girl, is...