-PTI Integrating unique identification number project “Aadhaar” with various social sector schemes like rural employment guarantee programme and PDS, would yield rich dividends for the government, says a study. According to cost benefit analysis study done by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), the investment on Aadhaar project would provide a return of as high as 52.85 per cent to the government. Substantial benefits would accrue to the government by...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Friday stayed all proceedings before the Delhi High Court relating to 20 petitions by 2G spectrum scam accused, including former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others who had challenged the trial court's decision to frame charges against them. Appearing for the CBI, senior advocate K K Venugopal informed a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan that though...

-The Indian Express Fifteen-year-old Altaf Hussain crouches effortlessly and heads into what looks like a black hole. Dragging a large wooden cart behind him, he disappears into the gaping darkness within seconds. After what seems like an endless wait but lasts just half an hour, he emerges from the hole with a cart laden with dark, glittering coal. The head of this group of 30 is Abu Kalam Mia. The 27-year-old ‘sardar’,...

-The New York Times Blog The strength and direction of the Indian economy may be up for debate, but one remarkable fact is not: There has been massive growth in the number and wealth of billionaires in India since the economic liberalization measures in 1991. The phenomenon has often been compared to the United States’ experience in the latter part of the 19th century. This was a period evocatively described by Mark...

-The Hindustan Times The recent spurt in protests against projects from Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu to Mahan coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Tata’s Power Plant in Mundra, Gujarat, has raised a key question --- are American and European philanthropic groups supporting these agitations?   A conference organised by such groups from the two most developed regions of the world --- US and Europe --- in Istanbul this July provides an insight how...