-The Times of India   AHMEDABAD: At a time when NarendraModi's development model is under national spotlight, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticized his government in Gujarat for imprudent fiscal management. It has underlined a need for greater professionalism and accountability in the functioning of the government and asked it to be more alert and responsive. The national auditor has said the state government has incurred 41% higher debt than the...

-The Times of India   Nearly one in every six urBan Indian residents lives in a slum, newly released Census data shows. The new numbers are significantly lower than the slum growth that had been projected for India. "Our own projections were that the all-India slum population would be 27.5% by 2011, so the new data comes as a pleasant surprise," Arun Kumar Misra, secretary in the ministry of housing and urBan poverty...

-Live Mint Indians who live in slums are not very different from those who live elsewhere, in terms of ownership of assets Indians who live in slums are not very different from those who live elsewhere, in terms of their ownership of assets, including consumer products and houses, although they may not have the same access to water and sanitation. The finding, reflected in Census 2011 data that was released on Thursday, reinforces...

-The Hindu   The Dalit-Bahujan theory or Ambedkarism cannot negotiate with funny theories of sociologists like Ashis Nandy. The best way to counter them is to write a better theory Utsa Patnaik, a noted economist said in a small note that she circulated "Ashis Nandy had earlier made approving remarks on the 1988 Deorala burning to death of a young widow in the name of sati (terming it a courageous act in a...

-Frontline How far will the proposed women's Bank help marginalised sections when women's SHGs get little support and find it hard even to open accounts in public sector Banks? WHILE the recent announcement of a women's Bank in the Union Budget has been touted as a progressive measure for the financial inclusion of women, no concrete measures have been forthcoming to make all existing public sector Banks sensitive to the needs...