The total expenditure on central schemes for the poor and on the major subsidies exceeds the states' share of central taxes. These schemes are chronic bad performers due to a culture of immunity in public administration and weakened local governments. Arguing that the poor should be trusted to use these resources better than the state, a radical redirection with substantial direct transfers to individuals and complementary decentralisation to local governments...

-The Times of India Six years ago, the Sachar Committee reportshowed that the Muslim community in India suffers from severe deprivations in education, employment, health services, public infrastructure, access to financial services leading to much higher poverty than other religious groups, somewhat like the condition of scheduled castes and tribes. The government responded by setting up a separate ministry for minority affairs, and launching several programs to provide benefits to the...

-The Hindu Majority of patients are utilising public health facilities in the State for chronic disease treatment An evaluation has ranked Tamil Nadu at the top for implementation outcomes of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and described it as a benchmark for other States. Analysis of data also reveals that in physical infrastructure per 1 lakh population with respect to Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres, and First Reference Units, Jammu and...

-DNA The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials involved with the probe in the murder of RTI activist Satish Shetty, have said that the scrutiny of call records of the people they are examining and the analysis of data retrieved from the hard disks of their computers, has revealed information that could lead to the fresh arrests. Shetty, who hails from Talegaon Dabhade, in Pune district, was stabbed and killed on his...

-The Times of India In a country already frequently accused of centralising decision-making in its capital city, new data on the Supreme Court now shows a disturbing Delhi bias in litigation too. Litigants who live closer to Delhi are significantly more likely to appeal in the Supreme Court, according to the first detailed analysis of recent apex court data by a legal researcher. Nick Robinson, a visiting fellow at the Centre for...