-The Times of India   The Rs 32 per capita urban poverty line is a measure only of extreme poverty, not of acceptable consumption-linked daily expenditure. Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and rural development minister Jairam Ramesh have clarified this. They've also stated that prevailing BPL figures won't determine selection of the beneficiaries of social schemes. This hopefully will put an end to the high-decibel protests of opposition parties and...

The government is mulling a raft of incentives for special economic zone developers to encourage them to move away from urban centres and focus on economically backward regions. A senior official in the commerce ministry said SEZ developers might get wider tax concessions if they build economic hubs in underdeveloped areas. The government may also lower the minimum area ceiling to ease land acquisition by them, the official said. These incentives...

The World Bank has suggested sale of excess public land in Indian cities to fund Infrastructure projects. Collaborating with the India Development Foundation and the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility , the World Bank has formed a steering committee headed by Vijay Kelkar, chairman of the 13th finance commission, to formulate a proposal on monetizing excess public land. Earlier this month, the bank's India director Roberto Zagha Patricia Annez met stakeholders,...

-The Economic Times   The Planning Commission has raised questions about the administrative structure of the Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) and called for the appointment of an independent financial advisor to monitor its finances and transactions, days after the finance ministry rejected the authority's Rs 15,000 crore funding proposal. "The UIDAI's present system represents a major departure from government procedures and removes all inbuilt checks and balances. We...

The Planning Commission has proposed the introduction of a state-funded health insurance programme by 2017 to cover every citizen of the country. The panel has suggested that the government formulate financial incentives for beneficiaries of the insurance programme as well as their employers to encourage them to participate in the plan. “The 12th Plan (2012-17) will explore the possibilities of introducing a government-funded health insurance plan for every citizen along the lines...