-Livemint.com The Indian statistical system is failing to fulfil the needs of 21st century policymaking The Indian state has often been a source of bewilderment to observers and analysts, and a source of frustration for its citizens who marvel at the state’s ability to perform complex tasks—such as running a successful space mission—while failing to perform many basic tasks such as ensuring the survival of newborns. Perhaps no other organ of the...

-The Indian Express Both the EC and the Law Ministry have been asked to furnish their written replies at the next meeting. New Delhi: AMID THE demands for state funding of elections, the Election Commission (EC) has categorically told a parliamentary panel that it is “not in favour” of the move. It has, instead, called for “radical changes” in the “provisions regarding receipt of funds” and expenditure by political parties to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A gram panchayat's success in reducing poverty will be judged by the number of households with over Rs 20,000 in savings bank accounts or percentage of families with Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Or, by the percentage of its households which have availed over Rs 20,000 as bank credit. Interestingly, higher the number of households with bank loans for "diversified livelihood", the better the village would be assessed...

-NDTV During arguments in court, Former coal secretary HC Gupta had claimed that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given the "final approval" in the case. New Delhi: A judgment which convicted THRee former coal ministry officials for corruption in one of the cases related to the coal scam on Friday has also given a huge relief to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was in charge of the coal ministry...

-The Hindu Ties up with IIT-Kharagpur to gauge happiness levels Happiness, its pursuit and examining its essential nature have been considered the domain of philosophy, an ephemeral rather than tangible value. The Madhya Pradesh government, however, has tasked the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur with finding a quantifiable answer to that eternal question — what constitutes happiness and how happy are people really. The State government had, in July last year, set up the...