-The Times of India Faced with a looming embarrassment over the disclosure of irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday sought to play down the findings of the auditor, asserting that his final report would spare the government. Speaking against the backdrop of Opposition's criticism and its demand for a CBI probe into what is being called " Coalgate", Mukherjee said that that the report scooped...

-PTI Taking note of the draft report of the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) on allotment of coal blocks without auction, the BJP on Thursday demanded a CBI probe into the allotment of coal blocks and monitoring of the probe by a court. "The coal allotment scam is a major scam. We demand a CBI probe and a court should monitor the probe. It is a government of scamsters (that is) involved...

The UPA-II has used the Budget to again play politics with hunger. But it has paid no heed to the ticking time bomb of growing social tensions as 58 million Indians living off agriculture slide deeper into poverty. The Economic Survey says more than half the population is dependent on a sector whose share in the economy is shrinking. The urban-rural income divide is therefore steadily widening, a tinder box that...

The Supreme Court dismissed the government’s review petition in the Vodafone tax case on Tuesday, affirming its January ruling that put overseas transfers of shares outside the Indian tax net. The review petition and last week’s budget proposals seeking retrospective changes have revived the uncertainty over tax laws, according to government officials, the Planning Commission and businesses. If Parliament passes the budget in its current form, the judgement in the Vodafone case...

Almost a month ago, when the Jayalalithaa-appointed state expert panel gave a clean chit to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), Firstpost had stated that the agitation was practically over. It was only a matter of time before the protesters were either asked to vacate the plant site or were forcibly removed. Since then, the PMANE (People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy) and the local struggle committee were essentially waging a losing...