At a recent meeting in Kolkata, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee threw up his hands for not being able to present a bold Budget because of coalition politics. Indeed, Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, a coalition partner, has been a thorn in the side of the UPA. She enjoys a veto on nearly everything that the government wishes to do. If such are the compulsions of coalition politics, should we not...
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Three cheers to Parliament by Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Chennai comes up with innovative ideas. ‘Prime Point,' set up by a gentleman known in true Tamil Nadu-style as ‘Prime Point Srinivasan,' has instituted a set of awards for parliamentarians called Sansad Ratna Awards. ‘PP' felicitously chose Ambedkar Jayanti for the conferment ceremony this year and conferred the honour on four MPs: Anand Rao Adsul — Number 1 in Questions (754). The total tally of debates, private bills and questions raised...
More »'Microfinance Bill impediment for self-help groups'
-The Business Standard The Microfinance Bill in its present form may hurt the growth of the Self-Help Group (SHG) programme being run across states to bring people above the poverty line, according to Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh. “The Bill needs to be rewritten. MFIs are not instruments for poverty alleviation,” Ramesh said in an interaction with reporters after he reviewed initiatives by NABARD in an SHG-bank link programme. He, however, did...
More »Registration of marriages to be made compulsory
-The Hindu The government will amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, to include registration of marriages under the purview of this law. The amendment bill to be introduced in Parliament during this session. This will provide legal protection to couples, especially in cases of inter-religious matrimony. The Union Cabinet on Thursday also approved amendment to the Anand Marriage Act, 1909, to provide for registration of marriages of Sikhs that...
More »Food security & the cup of Tantalus by Mani Shankar Aiyar
The key issue is not availability or resources but last mile delivery: how to reach foodgrains to people. In ancient Greece, the punishment given to Tantalus was to tie a cup around his neck and fill it with water. Every time he bent to take a sip, the cup would drop further and he would never get a drop into his parched mouth. From this comes the word “tantalizing”. Something like...
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