-The Economic Times The government wants to roll out cash benefit transfers throughout the country before the end of its term in 2014. It is a laudable goal, but will require speedy generation of Aadhaar, the unique identification number, and of Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. About 40% of Indians have no access to formal financial services. So, the government wants to step up efforts to open a bank account for every beneficiary and...

-The Business Standard The various grants under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan don't reach all schools - and not on time, either Educational spending is soaring. At the turn of the decade, new legislation has been enacted to make education a fundamental right. But India's elementary schoolchildren are just not learning. The country's elementary education budget has more than doubled since 2007-08, from Rs 68,853 crore to Rs 147,059 crore this fiscal, but the...

-Outlook The Delhi High Court today allowed media to cover the day-to-day proceedings of the trial in the December 16 gang- rape case which was being heard behind closed doors till date. Setting aside the order passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, heading the fast track court, on January 22 restraining media from covering the trial, Justice Rajiv Shakdher said, "The (trial) court will allow access to one representative journalist of each...

-PTI The Reserve Bank on Thursday sought to downplay the money-laundering allegations against three private sector banks, saying the country has a "perfect" system to prevent such offences and that not a single such transaction took place in the sting operation. The country's three largest private banks -- ICICI bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank -- were last week accused of indulging in money laundering both within and outside with an online...

-The Business Standard The implications of the food security Bill remain worrying The revised draft of the food security Bill, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Tuesday, marks some distinct changes over the draft introduced in Parliament in 2011. However, it may still not fully satisfy either the states or activists. While it retains the overall population coverage of 75 per cent rural and 50 per cent urban,...