One man’s fiscal problem is another man’s lifeline. Trigger happy bureaucrats and econoMISts may love shooting down subsidies because it bloats the fiscal deficit and burdens the government but the simple fact is that in a one billion strong nation, in which nearly one in every three live below the poverty line, one needs an effective and efficient method through which privileged tax payers can support the poor. Last week, finance...

-The Times of India The government on Thursday sought to play down this paper's report of March 22 which stated that the Comptroller and Auditor General had estimated in its 110-page draft report that the coal ministry's decision to award 155 coal acreages without competitive bidding had led to "undue benefits" of Rs 10.67 lakh crore to private and public firms. With the report creating a storm in Parliament, leading to adjournment...

-The Telegraph On Monday mornings, the white ambassadors with red beacons go MISsing from the preMISes of the municipality in Visakhapatnam. Instead, a queue of bicycles adorns the parking ground in front of the office. ComMISsioner B. Ramanjaneyalu and his senior officials may be entitled to government cars but on the week’s first working day, they have to leave the comfort of their cars behind and compulsorily bike to office. It’s all part...

-The Telegraph A comment attributed to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar that government schools breed Naxalites has sparked a furore, forcing the spiritual guru to issue a clarification today. Speaking at the 25th anniversary of a private school in Jaipur yesterday, Ravi Shankar had said: “Government ko koi school nahi chalana chahiye. Aksar paya jata hai ki government school se padhe hue bacche hi is tarha naxalvad me hinsa ke marg me chale...

-The Telegraph The Lok Sabha erupted today over the latest poverty estimates, with calls from the Opposition to disband the Planning ComMISsion and sack its deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. “Montek does not know this country and the poor. He is far removed from the ground realities. He should be removed. Close down this Planning ComMISsion. It is of no use,” Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal (United) said. His outrage was at...