The Supreme Court today sought response from the Centre and the Orissa government as to why the probe into the alleged irregularities in utilisation of funds for implementation of MGNREGA scheme not be handed over to the CBI. “Why not a direction be given to CBI to investigate the matter in accordance with law,” a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said. The bench directed the chief secretary of Orissa...

Indian Centre for Islamic Finance delegation makes presentation at Yojana Bhavan The Indian Centre for Islamic Finance (ICIF) has made out a strong case before Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council member V. S. Vyas for introducing interest-free banking in the country at the earliest to ensure “inclusive growth with innovation” in accordance with the recommendations of the Planning Commission's Raghuram Rajan Committee. An ICIF delegation from New Delhi, led by its general...

Large scale child labour persists in India, mostly in the agricultural sector and the informal economy despite initiatives by the government and instances of commercial sexual exploitation of minors are oft reported, a US report on the issue said on Wednesday. According to the India section of the annual report of the Department of Labor, children are exploited in the worst forms of child labour with a majority working in agriculture,...

The appointment of P.J. Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner comes under Supreme Court scrutiny.ON November 8, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar asked the Attorney-General, G.E. Vahanvati, whether Central Vigilance Commissioner P.J. Thomas was an “outstanding civil servant” as required by the Central Vigilance Commission Act.The Bench was yet to get a firm reply to the question on December...

Twenty-four hours ahead of the hearing in the Bombay High Court, the environment ministry has upheld its order asking Lavasa Corporation Limited to stop all work in its hill township project near Pune. Work at the 25,000-acre planned city was put on hold by a showcause order issued on November 25. The ministry had said that final order on the showcause will be issued by December 31, provided Lavasa “co-operated and...