-The Times of India   Picking holes in some decisions made by the home ministry, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has pointed out that the ministry had incurred an "avoidable expenditure" of more than Rs 9 crore by flying helicopters from Delhi to the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir to aid its troops deployed in operations. Besides, it has also rapped the ministry and its police wireless wing for incurring an...

The UPA government's land acquisition bill was expected to fill gaps in the archaic 1894 act and streamline the process of land acquisition and ensure fair compensation to farmers and landowners. But even before the bill is introduced in Parliament murmurs of dissent are being heard. The Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, piloted by rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, has drawn fire from critics for legitimizing purchase of vast tracts of land,...

India Inc too wants an honest day’s work On August 22, a public holiday across north India, Sunil Sirohi, a middle-aged IT executive, joined Ramlila Maidan’s anti-corruption agitators with wife Jyoti and a pre-teen son. “It’s the first such movement we’ve been part of,” he says. One of the attractions was bringing young Siddhartha up-to-date on Anna Hazare, the self-styled Gandhian from Maharashtra who has become the public face of...

The absence of a law regulating surrogacy makes India, especially Anand, a top destination for couples from abroad. UNTIL about 2008, the future looked bleak for Sharadaben Solanki. A landless daily-wage worker in Anand, Gujarat, she earned a paltry Rs.600 a month. Her husband earned an equal amount working as a construction labourer. Together the couple supported three children and their parents. That was when she heard from Maganbhai, the owner of...

-The Indian Express   The annual report of the Central Vigilance Commission carrying details of investigation in the multi-crore Commonwealth Games scam is likely to be tabled in the ongoing session of Parliament. Sources said the report, which will have minute details of all probes undertaken by the anti-corruption watchdog between January and December 2010, has been submitted to President Pratibha Patil on June 30. "The report has been given to the President as...