-The Indian Express Those who want parties under RTI have not specified whether this advances transparency or electoral reform. It is time for a more nuanced debate. The tussle around the proposed RTI amendments to nullify the CIC order bringing the six national parties under the RTI Act is notable for many reasons: first, the amendments were sent to the standing committee for deliberation despite near political unanimity. This is significant, since...

-PTI CHANDIGARH/PUNE: Arrivals of onion from Afghanistan have failed to bring down retail prices of onion in Punjab as it continued to remain high, with traders citing poor quality coupled with low arrivals. In the wake of skyrocketing prices of onion in India, Punjab traders have been importing onion from Afghanistan via Attari-Wagah land route. Daily 3-5 trucks laden with onion are crossing over to India, traders said. "There is not much onion...

-The Business Standard Changing aspirations and strong rural demand could explain why core inflation may not decline fast enough Recently, the Reserve Bank of India governor exuded confidence that the Indian economy will do fairly better in the current fiscal. While it is difficult to envisage a significant turnaround, we believe interpreting the recent inflation uptick may be the key to such optimism. We also think that inflation (both wholesale and retail)...

-The Hindustan Times Now that India's "polio-free" status is less than three months away -- the nation's last polio case of a two-year-old girl in the Panchla block of Howrah, West Bengal, was reported on January 13, 2011 -- the Centre is going the extra mile to stop re-infection. This year, 296 polio cases were reported till October 16. In 2012, there were 171 in the same period and 223 till December...

-Reuters The finance minister is finding it harder and harder to meet the government's budget promises and may sweep as much as $15 billion in subsidy costs into next year's accounts to ensure he hits fiscal targets ahead of the Lok Sabha, ministry officials say. Finance minister, P Chidambaram, insists that the fiscal deficit target of 4.8% of GDP for the year to March 31, 2014, is a red line that will...