-The Telegraph Differences with the Prime Minister's Office appear to have held up key schemes of the women and child development (WCD) ministry announced in the budget five months ago. Among the measures stalled is the "one-stop rape crisis centres", christened Nirbhaya centres after the 2012 Delhi bus rape victim and seen as a pet project of Maneka Gandhi. The finance ministry had approved Rs 500 crore for the plan but, with the...

-DNA The government has spent a whopping Rs 80 crore since 2009 to maintain VVIP samadhis. In an RTI filed by dna, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) that is responsible for maintaining the Samadhi Complex in Delhi has revealed that these expenses were incurred to maintain plush lawns, electrical supply and security. The Samadhi Complex spread over 245 acres of land along the bank of Yamuna on Ring Road in Delhi...

-Business Standard A committee set up to review laws related to protection of environment and forests, headed by former Cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian, has recommended an omnibus green law that will not only subsume existing legislation, but also hold the potential to undo existing judicial pronouncements on environmental issues. The proposed law will also do away with all existing authorities created under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The panel's report,...

-PTI Work has moved into top gear for finalising the name and structure for the new institution that will replace the 64-year old Planning Commission and the same may be unveiled this December. "The Prime Minister has convened a meeting of the Chief Ministers on December 7 to seek their view points on the structure of the institution which would ultimately replace the Planning Commission," an official source said. The Commission has...

-Down to Earth Demonstrations follow T S R Subramanian Committee report recommending measures to fast-track environmental clearances Thousands of people gathered in Mumbai and Dehradun on Monday to protest recent attempts by the NDA government to undermine the rights of local communities to manage and protect their forests. Specifically targeted is the requirement for gram sabha consent on all projects seeking to divert forestland for non-forest purposes, as guaranteed by the Forest...