-The Hindu     They say Supreme Court-appointed panel's recommendations reasonable Even as the final report of the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) on open field trials of genetically modified crops is awaited, 51 independent international scientists with expertise in genetic engineering and biosafety protocols have approved the panel's Interim Report. The report has called for a 10-year moratorium on open field trials of Bt food crops until adequate regulatory mechanisms and safety...

-The Indian Express This attempt to influence the CBI should cost Ashwani Kumar his job, no matter how the court weighs in After the Supreme Court pressed the CBI, the agency has admitted that its confidential report on coal block allotment had been seen by Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar in the draft stage. This comes as confirmation of a serious breach of procedure, one that should compel the UPA to take...

-The Hindu   We'll have to make ‘some compromises,' to pass the Bills: govt. sources The UPA government had hoped to push its social welfare agenda through in Parliament by legislating on food security and land acquisition. Instead, just five days into the second half of the ongoing budget session, it is engaged in damage control, trying to put out three fires simultaneously - the coal blocks' allocation issue, the 2G JPC imbroglio...

-The Hindu The CBI's formal acknowledgment to the Supreme Court that, on the demand of Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, it shared the status report of its investigations on the Coalgate scam with bureaucrats in the PMO and Coal Ministry shows how deeply the agency stands compromised. The fact that the CBI Director has now assured the court that the bureau's future status reports "shall not be shared with any [member...

-The Indian Express CBI director Ranjit Sinha admitted to the Supreme Court on Friday that the agency's status report on the coal blocks allocation case had been shown to Law Minister Ashwani Kumar "as desired by him". The report was also shared with a senior official each from the Prime Minister's Office and the coal ministry, the CBI director said. The government has been in turmoil - facing demands for an explanation...