-Live Mint The fundamental pathology of Indian policy is the overwhelming preference for subsidies over public goods One useful way to understand a fundamental flaw in policymaking in India since 2004 is to ask a rhetorical question: why is the ruling United Progressive Alliance aggressively pushing for a law guaranteeing the right to food rather than one for the right to clean drinking water? Take a look at the numbers. A February...

-The Telegraph The government has decided to bring in an ordinance to ensure legal right to subsidised food for two-thirds of the country's population, choosing the executive route to avoid parliamentary debates and sharing credit with the Opposition. Sources said the Union cabinet was expected to take up the National Food Security Ordinance on Thursday and added that it was likely to be cleared and sent for presidential assent the same day. "The...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Instead of simplifying the process for organ donation, the Centre seems to be imposing more bureaucratic hurdles and adding to the trauma of donors' family members. A draft of fresh national guidelines for organ transplant says forensic departments of government hospitals will play a pivotal role in organ donation. The problem, say experts, is that grieving relatives may have to wait longer-first, for busy, overworked forensic experts...

-Down to Earth   Orders forest department to restore honey seized during raid The court of judicial magistrate of Chamrajnagar in Karnataka has upheld the rights of Soliga tribal people to harvest and sell forest produce independent of the forest department. On May 24, the court ordered Punjanur range forest officer to return 1,100 kg of honey seized from the Hosepodu gram sabha, located within the Biligiri Rangaswami Temple (BRT) tiger reserve, during...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In 2009, Delhi became the first city in India to come out with a comprehensive plan for combating climate change. The ambitious proposal outlined actions to be taken under five heads that included air, water, noise, solid waste and greening and a list of 65 actions. Over 20 government agencies were involved in the project. The time-frame set for realizing the goals expired in 2012...