-The Indian Express Evidence suggests that citizen participation in budgeting and closer engagement in the monitoring of civic works results in better outcomes and fewer leakages. The budget season is upon us. The Union budget, which lays out the receipt and expenditure proposals of the Government of India, is an annual feature in Parliament on February 1. It receives extensive press coverage — in fact, it sends both TV and print media...

-Livemint.com * With this, farmers will be able to save more than ₹1 trillion annually on fuel cost, which will help them to improve their livelihood, Nitin Gadkari said * It is safer as CNG tanks come with a tight seal, which reduces the possibility of explosion while refueling or in the event of a spill, the minister said New Delhi: Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday launched India’s...

-The Hindu On several significant items relating to the environment, allocations have remained stagnant or fallen In 1991, when the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh ushered in economic reforms that catapulted India into the global economy, I had asked him how he intended to balance rapid economic growth with environmental protection. He said that the experience of the West is that once there is enough money in the economy through growth, it...

-Down to Earth Air pollution is a transboundary problem, it transcends rural and urban boundaries. But the issue is rarely discussed and action plans are rigid Air pollution in India is generally perceived as a problem of the cities and by the cities. Quite predictably, solutions have been designed for the cities. Initiatives to alleviate poor air remain conspicuously absent in rural areas. Rural air pollution has usually been ignored by scientists and...

-NDTV blog Nirmala Sitharaman said: "We have spent, we have spent and we have spent." She had every reason to claim that, since the budget numbers show that the centre spent ₹ 4.1 lakh crore, or 13 percent above what it had planned for last year. Additional spending will continue this year: expenditure is estimated to go up by 14.5 percent in 2021-2022 compared to last year, even though the government's...