-The Telegraph Patna: Bihar's honeymoon with double digit growth appears to be headed for a rocky phase with the government today declaring 33 of the state's 38 districts as drought-hit. The agriculture and allied sectors, which contribute around one-fifth (18.91 per cent) of Bihar's gross state domestic product (GSDP), are staring at a lower growth rate for the second consecutive year. The overall growth rate of the state was a little...

-The Economic Times I have often been asked how Chhattisgarh manages the contradictory pulls of sound fiscal health and welfare schemes. How did we manage to roll out food and nutrition security to not just the most needy among us but to almost the entire population of a state that has had a history of malnutrition and neglect, without jeopardising Chhattisgarh's finances? As finance minister for the last eight years, I have...

-The Times of India Almost 57 years after it was carved out by merging Telugu-speaking areas and cutting out Marathi and Kannada speaking areas, Andhra Pradesh is now on the carving board again - the Telangana region will now be partitioned off into a new state, induced by a long-standing agitation, but delivered by the political expediency of the Congress. Whatever be the complex electoral implications of this, the real question is...

-The Business Standard Growth, not entitlement, reduces poverty, according to the latest data The numbers may seem unrealistic, but the broad indication is loud and clear: among all available medicines, growth seems to be the most effective medicine against poverty at the moment. According to the recently released poverty data, states like Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan have done well when it comes to reducing poverty in the last seven years. And these...

-The Times of India With the state budget all set to be presented on July 12, TOI takes a hard look at the government's cheap rice scheme and its impact on politics and employment. Will cheap rice boil? Let's look at the math. Reducing the price from Rs 3 to Re 1 per kg will help a family save Rs 60 per month. Till now, poor families got rice from the Public Distribution...