-PTI The area under cotton in Punjab is likely to drop by 60,000 hectares this kharif season with farmers likely to switch over to guar crop, a state government official said on Saturday. The area under cotton is expected to be five lakh hectares this year as compared to 5.6 lakh hectares last year as some of the area under cultivation is likely to be used for guar crop, which has...

Idinthakarai: The agitation against the Koodankulam nuclear plant has lost its intensity and sense of direction following the withdrawal of an indefinite fast, a move forced on the protesters after the Tamil Nadu government withdrew its tacit support to them.   The indefinite fast at Idinthakarai had seen mass participation but on Monday, when a relay hunger strike begins, it will involve only a few dozen people. The protesters are as frustrated...

-The Hindu   “Heart of policy is that government believes people should pay tax somewhere” Even as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee faces flak from corporates at home and abroad on his budget proposal to tax Vodafone-type deals through retrospective amendment, World Bank president Robert Zoellick sought to side with the government saying India wanted the company to pay tax at some place. He also reasoned that investors must give some time to the government...

The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has found that the Naveen Patnaik government has ‘misused' the Land Acquisition Act for acquiring land for several big industrial projects, including the proposed mega steel plant by South Korean steel major Posco. “Emergency Provisions of Section 17 (4) were misused and applied arbitrarily even without indicating detailed justification for the same and without fulfilment of prescribed conditions,” the CAG has stated. The CAG report was...

The Comptroller and Auditor-General has slammed the Narendra Modi government for financial irregularities, particularly for mismanagement of public sector undertakings, resulting in losses of over Rs. 16,000 crore. It has come down heavily on the state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for extending “undue benefits” to the Chief Minister's “favoured few,” mainly Adani Energy and Essar Steel companies, which coupled with its poor management and faulty agreements on exploration of oil...