Republicans planned to offer an alternative bill that included lifting the Obama administration's blanket moratorium on deepwater drilling, setting up a bipartisan commission with subpoena power to investigate the Gulf oil disaster and propose reforms, and allowing for revenue sharing for states that permit offshore drilling.

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Faced with the choice of setting tighter limits on Congressional power or upholding a national scheme of drug-enforcement laws, Scalia voted for law enforcement.

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In villages across India, the group has helped to train local entrepreneurs in setting up marketing chains, arrange decentralised credit and finance, and link the villages with manufacturers of village power units.

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