-IANS   Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday called an emergency cabinet meeting over the leaked contents of a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report allegedly blaming her for irregularities in Commonwealth Games related contracts. "The chief minister is holding an emergency meeting at the Delhi secretariat to discuss the further course of action," said a Delhi government official. The opposition has been demanding Dikshit's resignation over the issue. The CAG report leaked Tuesday...

-The Deccan Herald   Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti has declared that the Government will not allow trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the State. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Bangalore, the Minister said Karnataka had opposed Bt brinjal, and if Media reports on Bt maize and Bt paddy trials in Bijapur and Koppal were true, the Government would oppose them as well. Katti said the State is firmly opposed to testing, research...

The announcement last weekend by the prime minister that an independent National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Agency (NEAMA) would shortly be set up has been welcomed in the Media. The PM indicates that it would be staffed by professionals, will set up a new process for environmental appraisal of projects, and monitor the observance of environmental management plans. It would be a recommendatory body, subject to final decision-making by the...

-Kanglaonline.com   “The RTI appellants are targeted by persons holding high office and those in power, we are targeted for requesting information from the government. We have decided to unite to withstand this oppression”, stated W Joykumar, convener of Transparency Initiatives Manipur, a forum of RTI activist formed recently. Briefing Media persons at its office, Joykumar said that the forum was set up after a meeting was held by RTI activists and other...

Important draft legislation was recently unveiled in Rajasthan that would impose serious punishment for ‘witch-hunting’. Getting legislators to sign off on the bill, however, will prove difficult. Over the years, the women’s movement in Rajasthan has had some success in making violence against women into an important political issue. Activists have forced political parties and governments to demonstrate that they are addressing this constituency, which the Media has dubbed ‘Mahila Sangathan’....