-The Indian Express In what could give a legal validation to severe punishments in cases with grave “social consequences”, the Supreme Court has ruled that “punishment should acknowledge the sanctity of human life” and hence not just an act but its result must weigh heavy while ascertaining adequate penalty. Sending across a strong message to all trial courts to take note of the impact of a crime on the society and its...

-The Hindu Business Line Can you imagine many men who never donned domestic roles are now sharing household works in rural India? This is one of the findings of a national study, conducted on the impact of self help groups in the last two decades, which Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has released here.   Finance and managment The study, conducted by the National Network of Enabling Self Movement (Enable) in eight States...

-The Hindu Adding fuel to fire, people haven’t received subsidy Kotkasim (Rajasthan): Mahipal Singh Yadav (31) is a contractual junior manager at the Kotkasim Gram Sewa Sahakari SAMiti. Joining the cooperative, he had hoped, would be like any other job. However, since the direct cash transfer of kerosene subsidies scheme was piloted here, Mr. Yadav has found himself at the receiving end of people’s anger. The KGSSS operates five fair price shops (FPS) in...

Should they be targeted? Should they go to individuals or households? Are conditionalities necessary? Without a full consideration of these issues, cash transfers will remain an expensive gamble Having worked on cash transfers for over 25 years, and being an economist, I find recent criticisms of the idea shrill and ill-informed. Only a right-wing ideologue would call them a panacea or a cure-all. They would merely be a vast improvement on...

-The Hindu The World Conference on International Telecommunication showed that countries are not yet ready to arrive at a consensus on regulation and control of the Internet The World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT) that concluded on December 14 saw much heated debate. Some countries wanted to use the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to gain intergovernmental control of the World Wide Web. Some saw it as an opportunity to democratise the Internet,...