-The Times of India NEW DELHI: An expert committee under chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan has identified 10 parameters for a new Composite Development Index, whose adoption by the Centre will change the way thousands of crores are transferred annually and can potentially set the stage for realignment of political forces in Bihar before the 2014 polls. The new index seeks to rate states on the basis of their distance from the...

-Outlook New Delhi: With political parties agitated over plans to bring them under the ambit of RTI Act and the recent Supreme Court judgement on disqualification of lawmakers, government has called an all-party meeting tomorrow to firm up a view on the contentious issues. The meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath is also to facilitate early passage of the Food Security Bill. The Bill is currently under consideration of the Lok...

-Deccan Chronicle New Delhi: On the eve of Quit India Day, August 8, over 2,000 citizens from 20 states came together at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi for a day-long protest and march demanding that GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) and multinational seed giant, Monsanto quit India. The delegation marched to Parliament also asking the government to withdraw the BRAI (Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India) bill 2013. An Indian flag made out of organic...

-The Indian Express The government has lined up the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 for consideration on Tuesday. The Bill, piloted by Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, is intended "to ensure a humane, participatory, informed, consultative and transparent process for land acquisition for industrialisation, development of essential infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least disturbance to owners of the land and other affected families." The legislation seeks to provide "just...

-The Hindu There is absolutely no methodological relationship between the Tendulkar poverty line and the one dollar poverty line. Mihir Shah has defended the poverty line recommended by the Suresh Tendulkar Committee in 2009 in his article in The Hindu (editorial page, "Understanding the Poverty Line", August 5, 2013). Mr. Shah makes two claims. First, he argues that "Tendulkar [...] computed poverty lines for 2004-05 at a level that was equivalent, in...