-The Hindu Tribal Affairs Minister Kishore Chandra Deo has criticised the Union and State governments for disinvesting in public sector companies to permit private entities to mine in tribal-dominated Schedule V areas, calling the move unconstitutional. In a letter to Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, Mr. Deo said, "Circumventing the constitutional provisions through disinvestment is being done in a stealthy manner through decisions of the government instead of adhering to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has come out in support of the demand that SCs/STs be deemed to be poor with the exclusion of government employees and tax payers among them, adding a new twist to the debate on the identification of poor. Responding to the issue raised by social justice minister Selja, Ramesh told TOI, "I am for dalits and tribals being considered poor with...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In what raises questions over the government's seriousness in conducting legislative business, a study by PRS Legislative Research has found that though 30 bills were slotted for discussion in the Lok Sabha over 78 hours this monsoon, the 16-working-days session left scope for discussing them over just 36 hours. The calculation goes like this: the Lok Sabha sits for an average five hours daily - from...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Contrary to the perception that the UPA government has been spending more on social sector schemes, a financial audit of the Union government's accounts for 2011-12, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, reveals that every year, the spending has been coming down drastically on most of the major flagship programmes - by up to 63% in some cases. The largest allocation in the Budget in the last...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Chances of getting killed in a road accident is the highest in Amritsar and in the country's Mercedes capital Ludhiana. Latest data on road fatalities shows that at least six people died in every 10 road crashes in these two cities in 2012 against only three in Delhi, which recorded maximum fatalities in 2012. Though Mumbai recorded the highest number of accidents among 50 million-plus cities,...