Top corporates like Tata Power, Jindal Steel and Reliance Energy have lined up to develop infrastructure in rural India for the first time under the revised Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (Pura) scheme.

Home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday is believed to have expressed his displeasure, when environment minister Jairam Ramesh met him to clarify his position. Mr Ramesh was under fire from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his remarks against the home ministry’s policies on China. In Beijing, he described home ministry’s policy on China as “paranoid and alarmist”.

In a unique initiative, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and the Survey of India (SoI) will map the entire 1500 km coastline to draw up a hazard based mapping process in order to help protect the coastal population from cyclones, tides and tsunami.

Defence minister A.K. Antony asserted on Wednesday that it was the UPA government which had taken a recent policy decision to permit permanent commission for women in more streams in the armed forces but added that he could not ignore the views of the Indian Air Force (regarding litigation by several women petitioners).
The minister was asked whether the MoD would challenge a recent Delhi high court verdict before the Supreme Court.

Puducherry is seeking expansion of the existing airport and may seek acquisition of land from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, civil aviation ministry sources have indicated. The chief minister of Puducherry met civil aviation secretary Madhavan Nambiar on Wednesday. Puducherry has sought Central financial assistance for the land acquisition, sources said.

Not happy with its Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal’s remarks on khap panchayats asking for a legal ban on same-gotra (clan or lineage) marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Congress on Wednesday sought an explanation from him.

Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi was snubbed by the ministry of defence (MoD) recently when he asked for the use of defence aircraft for movement of the Queen’s Baton Relay in India.

Known for strict discipline and for being a stickler for the rules, the newly sworn-in Chief Justice of India, Sarosh Homi Kapadia, made it clear to lawyers on his first day at work that “frivolous” public interest litigation would not be tolerated and that they might even attract heavy penalties. He said this when at least four such PILs, with which he was not convinced, came up for hearing.

The government is all set to clear proposals to create posts for top babus in the reconstituted National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by Congress president and chairperson of UPA Sonia Gandhi.
Sources confirmed that the proposals from the ministry of programme implementation in regard to creation of posts of a secretary, an additional secretary and three joint secretaries for NAC are high on the agenda of the Union Cabinet, which will meet on Thursday.

Congress allies in the UPA — the DMK, Trinamul Congress, NCP and the NC — are not keen on either having a common minimum programme or a coordination committee at a time when the ruling front is completing one year in office this month. On the other hand, supporting parties like the SP, BSP and the RJD are playing the role of trouble-shooters at the Centre but are playing the opposite role in UP and Bihar.