-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Gujarat government has hit out at rural development minister Jairam Ramesh over his charge that Modi regime has not been able to full spend central funds it received under the Watershed Programme. In a hard-hitting response, Gujarat government has accused the central minister of using incorrect and half backed data and resorting to 'chicanery', for political purpose. The state government said that Ramesh based cited...

-Outlook The much-awaited Lokpal Bill today got the assent from President Pranab Mukherjee, providing for creation of an anti-graft watchdog which will bring under its purview even the Prime Minister with certain safeguards. The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 17 and by the Lok Sabha the next day. The Lok Sabha secretariat had yesterday sent to the Law Ministry a copy of the Bill which has been signed by...

-The Indian Express Nagpur: Seven years after the suicide spiral in Vidarbha's six cotton-growing districts touched a record 1,449 in 2006, here's something to celebrate the new year with: the number of deaths fell to about half that number in 2013. The year gone by recorded only 752 suicides , although that number could rise by a few due to some late reporting. It also reflects a markedly improving suicide-to-population ratio considering...

-The Business Standard The Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee law allows mandis to remain in the grip of a middlemen cartel, with clear links to politicians who run the governments Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has, in effect, told chief ministers of party-ruled states that if food inflation is to be controlled, as many items as possible must be got out of the purview of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. For the time...

-The Hindu The Congress has steered clear of any debate on the AFSPA, leaving a politically untenable choice for the next government: repeal the Act or leave it untouched With its recent decision to extend the implementation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur by another year, the United Progressive Alliance's opportunistic posturing on the legislation has come full circle. The UPA's rendezvous with the AFSPA began months after it...