-The Hindu Lauds Finance Commission recommendations for revenue share Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said on Friday that calculations showed that the total transfers from the Centre to the States as a percentage of the divisible pool of its net tax revenue would remain nearly the same even after the acceptance of the 14th Finance Commission's recommendations. However, transfers from the Central government would no longer be scheme-and-grant-based, and it would rather be...

-The Hindu Just 39 of the 568 Ministers in State govts are women When no women joined Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in taking the oath of office on Saturday, Delhi joined the ranks of seven other States with no women Ministers. In the rest of the States too, women representation in the Ministries is low, and often restricted to certain portfolios. With all State Assemblies put together, 360 of the country's...

-The Indian Express ONE of the late R.K. Laxman's best cartoons from the mid-1960's portrays a smiling food minister looking out of a window at a heavy monsoon downpour saying, "This year we can tell the Americans to go to hell." Fifty years ago, a good monsoon meant that that year, India was not dependent on food aid and wouldn't have to go hat in hand to the Americans for food...

-Business Standard Likely to carry out mid-term appraisal; states could continue with annual Plans Contrary to popular belief, the National Democratic Alliance government may not scrap the 12th five-year Plan (2012-13 to 2016-17) formulated by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Instead, it may carry out a course correction, in consultation with ministries and state governments. A model for such a structured rectification would be firmed up at the first governing council meeting...

-IANS Civil society activists as well as economists Monday decried the "budget cuts" being made by the government for the rural employment guarantee act. The government seems to have decided to ignore its legal responsibility and is using budget cuts to rapidly dilute and undermine the rural employment act, the activists said at a press conference here. Economist Jayati Ghosh said that MGNREGA funding has not been keeping to its demand based requirements...