-The Business Standard Madhav Gadgil headed the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel set up by the ministry of environment and forests in 2010. The report zoned 75 per cent of the Western Ghats into different grades of ecological sensitivity. The recommendation was to protect these zones with measures by phasing out mining and introducing organic farming and eco-friendly urbanisation. The report also proposed a development model executed in consultation with the...

Despite recent amendments made to the marriage laws in India, there still remain loopholes which ensure it remains a lopsided bargain for women. Will the recent amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, protect women’s rights? Or will an easy divorce without adequate rights in matrimonial property and clear financial safeguards, leave an increasing number of women facing lengthy judicial processes for any tangible maintenance...

By repeatedly decrying the CAG and trying to malign the person occupying that Constitutional office, the UPA government is weakening an important pillar of democracy and lowering its own credibility Admitting that there is a great deal of uncertainty and a perception of policy paralysis in the government these days, a senior Cabinet colleague of the prime minister recently observed that it was being created by the activities of (Comptroller and...

-PTI The Planning Commission today clarified that Rs 35 lakh wasn’t spent on two of its toilets but an entire block of Lavatories under “routine maintenance” and said it was “unfortunate” to call it wasteful expenditure. “While the amount of Rs 35 lakh being mentioned (in an RTI reply) is correct, an impression is being created that this has been spent on two toilets. This is totally false because these toilet blocks...

-The Times of India The Maharashtra government is under the scanner for lack of transparency in facilitating planned hill city of Lavasa in state's Pune district. The CAG report has slammed the state "for failing to adhere to regulations, amending existing laws for the project, disturbing the already ecologically fragile environment and violating green norms''. "The project seems to be driven by private interest and not by public interest," the report said. The...