-The Hindustan Times Even as the Congress upped its ante on last week's anti-naxal encounter in Chhattisgarh and claimed innocent tribals and children were killed by the security forces, union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said he was "deeply sorry" if any civilian died in the anti-Maoist operations. Union tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo told HT that he is also collecting information from various sources and will present them...

-The Indian Express Mamata pushed the bill through with no heed to Constitution or legal precedent The basic facts are well known by now. West Bengal’s Left Front invited the Tatas to set up a Nano plant in 2006. About 997 acres of mostly agricultural land was acquired. Some farmers sold willingly, others resented it — violence followed. The Tatas signed a lease, moved in and invested considerably. But low-intensity violence continued....

-The Business Standard The government must prepare for below-normal monsoon A massive 30 per cent deficiency in the monsoon rainfall in June, coupled with an anticipated low precipitation in September, may add to the government’s difficulties in achieving its growth and fiscal deficit targets. Agriculture may not be the only victim of poor rainfall. Its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) may have dipped to mere 15 per cent but it still...

-PTI All the thermal power projects planned for the 12th Plan Period have requisite clearances and are at the advanced stages of construction, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has said.  The capacity addition targets for 2012-17 do not include the projects - with a total capacity of 32,000 MW - that are stranded due to environmental issues, CEA added.  The government is planning to add about 1,00,000 MW capacity by 2017.  CEA, the techno-economic...

-The Economic Times A section of the Chhattisgarh government is coming around to the view that a judicial inquiry into the recent encounter with Maoists may be the best option to counter allegations that innocent tribals were killed.  The state government is already in touch with the Union home ministry in this regard, a senior official told ET. The official, who did not wish to be named, said a section within the...