-The Telegraph   New laws are often brought in without assessing their judicial and financial impact. The result is poor implementation, says Seetha Call it collateral damage. According to newspaper reports, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has written to the Prime Minister asking for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to be put on hold during the peak season of agricultural operations. With a guaranteed income of Rs 100 a day for at...

-The Times of India   The government has endorsed a recommendation of Parliament's standing committee to restrain judges from making baseless comments against constitutional and statutory bodies and their functionaries even in cases which don't concern them directly. The decision forms part of the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill that is to be discussed by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday. The government has also expanded the standing committee's recommendation that close relatives of judges...

Justice B H Marlapalle, one of the most outspoken and distinguished judges of the Bombay high court, has set a new benchmark not only for members of the judiciary but even for high-ranking bureaucrats. A day after retirement, he vacated his official quarters and surrendered his vehicle too.  As per the norms, a judge can retain his official accommodation and vehicle for three months after retirement. During his career spanning over...

-Express News Service   The report of the Standing Committee on Law and Justice on the Lokpal Bill, which was tabled in Parliament Friday, obviously saw more divergence than convergence, with 17 of the 30 members recording their dissent. In fact, the position of the dissenting three Congress members, Meenakshi Natarajan, P T Thomas and Deepa Dasmunsi, was closer to the Opposition on three important points — they suggested that the Central Vigilance...

-PTI   Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement that saw Indians rally in support has been named among the top 10 news stories in the world this year by Time magazine, which listed the Arab Spring and killing of Osama bin Laden as the top attention-grabbing headlines. Time magazine compiled 54 wide-ranging lists of the top 10 happenings in 2011 in the field of politics, entertainment, business, sports and pop culture. Among the 'Top 10 World-News...