Seasonal papers
The Election Commission is on high alert on usage of illegal cash or means every time polls take place in states, or for that matter, across India. But it seems, every time, political parties find new ways to circumvent the rules. The latest is: If you cannot plant paid news reports, why not start a newspaper and fill it with your news ? TMC Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh, who has interests ranging from coal to livestock to tea, is contemplating reviving Financial World, a newspaper that was once headed by Tarun Tejpal, but closed before starting. Recruitments have started in the right earnest. Why not? Bengal elections are around the corner, and an English newspaper can always help, right?

What do the oil firms do?
The Nepal blockade has messed lives for many in the land-locked country but there are many in India who are feeling the pinch. High on the list is the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), whose tankers are lined up across the Birgunj border. Top IOC officials, worried at the snail-paced traffic, have asked Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to intervene. But Pradhan knows he cannot help the troubled oil companies; the matter — for all practical purposes — rests with the all-powerful PMO, overseen by none other than PM Narendra Modi.