-The Hindu The Election Commission, headed by reform-oriented CEC S.Y. Quraishi, is unhappy the government has not considered the changes it has been pushing for so many years, including declaring “paid news” a poll offence. Mr. Quraishi, known for his voter-friendly reforms, is demitting office on June 10. On February 3 last year, the EC suggested that publication and abetment of “paid news” for furthering the election prospects of any candidate or prejudicially...
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Bihar recommends CBI probe into Ranvir Sena chief's murder
-PTI Bowing to opposition demands, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today recommended a CBI probe into the killing of Ranvir Sena supremo Bramheshwar Singh. A decision to this effect was taken during a meeting Kumar had with top state police officials and home department officials at his residence this morning. State director general of police Abhayanand and principal secretary of home department Aamir Subhani also attended the meeting. "The Chief Minister has decided...
More »High-level meet to discuss tax on diesel cars-Amrit Raj
A day after the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was considering an increase in excise duty on diesel cars, a consensus seems to be building within the government, with the oil ministry supporting the move. Following this, key stakeholders involved in taking a decision on increasing excise duty on diesel vehicles are likely to meet on Wednesday, according to three people, including a top...
More »Give the Saranda Development Plan a chance-Jairam Ramesh
I read Aman Sethi's piece on the Saranda Development Plan (“Nine months on, police camps sole development in Saranda plan”, June 4) with great interest but with greater anguish. Before I deal with his main charge — that private mining interests are behind the SDP — I want to lay out what the SDP is all about. It is the first systematic experiment in combining a security-oriented and development-focussed approach...
More »In name of Dalits, a land racket in Nitish’s Bihar-Santosh Singh
Araria, Bihar: If the government had bought bicycles to give them to schoolgirls, you would have had a bicycle scam in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar famously said, explaining why he gave bicycle vouchers to families. But when it came to giving land to landless Mahadalit families — the poorest and most marginalised of Dalits — the government forgot this wisdom. Result: Allegedly acting in concert, government officials and brokers ganged...
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