In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has declared illegal all coal blocks allocated between 1993 and 2010, ruling that this was done in an unfair, arbitrary and non-transparent manner. Most of the illegal allocations were made by the previous UPA administration, but the Supreme Court is yet to decide whether these licenses should be cancelled.   read more

One has to feel sorry for Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. It turns out that he had earlier paid a bribe to settle an inflated electricity bill, despite being a minister in Nitish Kumar's state administration at the time. After his bribe disclosure set off a political storm in Bihar this week, Manjhi quickly backtracked, claiming that the incident actually took place in 1994, well before Kumar’s tenure.   read more

The general election was held in mid-May, yet several former ministers of the previous UPA administration have still not vacated their official bungalows in New Delhi. The extended deadline to do so expired on Saturday and the Urban Development Ministry has finally begun eviction proceedings against the 20 former ministers and 120 former members of Parliament who are still clinging to their houses.   read more

The Karnataka state administration has triggered a controversy over its decision to reimburse a hefty medical bill incurred by Housing Minister M H Ambareesh for his treatment in Singapore, including airfare for his family and his doctors. The Medical Attendance Rule of 1958 stipulates that ministers have to get medical treatment in India if the required facilities are available, yet the state administration is adamant that Ambareesh's case is special.   read more

The country is treated to a political spectacle every year, with the Railway Minister having to somehow balance cheaper fares for passengers with finding funds for modernizing the crumbling track infrastructure. The Modi administration should take its modern vision for the Indian Railways one step further and bring in a professional CEO to run it. And let him run it quietly without the annual drama of the railway budget in Parliament.   read more

The Indian Express has unearthed a scandal in Bihar that up to 20,000 schoolteachers out of the 142,000 appointed between 2006 and 2011 may have got their jobs using fraudulent education and professional degrees.   read more

The Modi administration's emphasis on tackling tax evasion has received support from Swiss authorities who are reportedly ready to share details of Indians suspected to have Swiss bank accounts. India was one of the few countries in 2013 where the outflow to Switzerland actually increased, rising by 43 per cent to 140 billion rupees ($2.3 billion).   read more

The elected representatives of Goa planning a junket to the FIFA World Cup 2014 using 8.9 million rupees ($148,000) of public funds have been forced to spend their own money following public criticism. The state administration had earlier claimed the six politicians would visit Brazil to study “traffic management”.   read more