-Firstpost.com It is becoming increasingly difficult to retain respect for Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. He seems to surface in the media every time the UPA government is about to legislate its pet follies, providing intellectual succour to mindless spending and corruption wrapped up in the package of anti-poverty schemes. Yesterday, Sen bobbed up just when the UPA - under siege for every known scam in India - tried to start discussions on...

-The Hindustan Times As the country enters the election year, the UPA government has its task cut out in the form of legislative commitments which are looking increasingly difficult to fulfil. As many as 115 bills (excluding the finance bill) are pending before Parliament. Among these are the land acquisition and food security bills that for obvious reasons are high on the Congress-led coalition's social agenda in a poll year. Ninety-three of...

-Live Mint Subsidized loans given to farmers through KCCs could very well be the next big source of NPAs for banks Mumbai: A surge in exposure to farm debt through Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) could emerge as a risk for India's state-run banks, according to experts. Subsidized loans are given to farmers through KCCs by state-owned banks. Until March 2012, the outstanding amount on such loans was`1.6 trillion through 20.3 million cards, as...

-The Times of India The expansion of UPA's flagship intervention - direct benefits transfer (DBT) - is likely to be pushed back by three months, shrinking the window for fullscale implementation of the scheme that Congress sees as its trump card for the 2014 polls. The scheme to ensure delivery of cash subsidies and entitlements to bank accounts of beneficiaries was launched in January 2013. However, for the scheme to live up...

-The Hindustan Times The Gandhian crusader, Anna Hazare on Sunday claimed that he has sufficient proof of alleged corruption and irregularities committed in the “farmers’ Loan Waiver scheme” of the Centre, which was brought to light by the CAG report recently. Hazare, who was in Nagpur on a two-day tour in eastern Vidarbha said, “If the government is interested in going through the proofs, I am willing to hand over to them.” The...