Statesman News Service KOLKATA: The whole perception of the state government about availability of security forces is unreliable, State Election Commission counsel Samaraditya Pal submitted before Mr Justice Biswanath Somaddar of Calcutta High Court on the last day of the hearing of the challenge to some provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Act today. The judgment of the case will be delivered expeditiously, Mr Justice Somaddar said. Earlier, citing...

-The Indian Express Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Friday ordered the state government to strictly adhere to the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of) Forest Rights Act, 2006, and the rules framed thereafter under this central Act. The order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) by a group of NGOs, which said the state government was violating the provisions of the Act in deciding the claims of...

-The Business Standard Comptroller & Auditor General Vinod Rai, who has put the government on the mat several times in the past three years, says an auditor is meant to be adversarial. On the sidelines of the inauguration of the International Centre for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development in Jaipur on Saturday, Rai, whose term as the CAG ends on May 22, spoke to journalists about his stint, retirement plans and...

-The Hindu Kolkata: The agitation against fraudulent deposit-taking companies continued to spread in the State with the police intervening in some places to prevent the situation spinning out of control. There were instances of agents heckling investors. Demanding that their money be returned, a group of investors protested outside one of the companies at Lake Town near the city on Saturday. At Salt Lake nearby, another company faced the ire of anguished...

-Live Mint Why do the central and state govts deliberately undermine the constitutionally created panchayats? The collector of any district in India would be heading 100 to 150 committees related to various development initiatives in the area. Collectors often don't get time to prepare for or preside over the meetings of these committees-imagine what happens to implementation then. On the other hand, the heads of district panchayats and municipalities in the...