Experts agree that the economic and environmental costs of interlinking India's rivers far outweigh its projected benefits. Some people believe it is the one-stop solution to prevent floods and droughts, reduce water scarcity, raise irrigation potential and increase foodgrain production in the country. But others say it is just another grandiose scheme involving huge costs and leading to long-term ecological consequences. The contentious idea of interlinking India's rivers has come...

The Supreme Court has dismissed several review pleas filed by corporate houses challenging the decision to cancel 122 spectrum licences in the 2G case. The dismissed cases include those of Videocon, S Tel, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular, Unitech Wireless (TN) and Etisalat DB Telecom. The two-judge bench said that on April 13, it would hear in open court the government’s plea to review whether policy decisions can be overturned...

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which went through 2,097 cases of killing of youth and mass cremation of their bodies by the Punjab police during the peak of militancy in the State, has ordered a relief of Rs.27.94 crore to the families of 1,513 victims of such extra-judicial killings. The remaining bodies were not identified. When the terrorism was at its peak during 1984-1996 in the State, police personnel, whether...

-The Indian Express India is among the lowest scoring countries on political finance regulation, according to a new report. Global Integrity Report for 2011 released on Friday, indicates that developing as well as developed countries, including the US, are equally struggling to effectively implement money-in-politics rules. Global Integrity is an international non-profit organisation which tracks governance and corruption trends in the world. The Election Commission in India has instituted measures to create enhanced transparency...

A Union Home Ministry's proposal for amendments to the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is pending with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), P. Chidambaram said on Saturday, a day after the United Nations Special Rapporteur asked India to repeal the law, arguing that it had no place in a democracy. Answering questions at his monthly press conference, he said his Ministry had sought three amendments. “These pertain to three sections…” He...