-The Telegraph New Delhi: Bengal appears to have emerged as one of the best performers in implementing the rural job scheme, rising to fourth on the list from being one of the laggards even two years back. According to figures with the rural development ministry, the state has generated over 11.3 crore persondays of work since April, next only to table-topper Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. Till 2012, it was among the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Cancer is thought to be the great leveler. Whether you are an Indian or a Korean or Icelander, cancer will bring death. But a massive study of 26 million cancer patients over 15 years has shown that survival rates in the 10 most prevalent types of cancer vary hugely across countries. Survival rates in India are quite low for most types of cancer, less than...

-The Hindu Providing people with a modest basic income instead of subsidies would save public revenue With oil prices falling, it was perhaps a good time to fade out fuel subsidies. All subsidies are inefficient and distortionary, and most are regressive. The same could be said of costly public works schemes as well. By contrast, the debate on direct benefit transfers has moved into a more sensible phase, with the posturing criticism of...

-The Indian Express The recent proposal by the National Commission for Women to legalise prostitution has opened up an old debate. It is a misnomer that legalisation would lead to improving the lives of women in prostitution by way of reduced harassment by the police and provision of healthcare facilities. Advocates of legalisation should first examine the experience of countries where prostitution has been legalised. The mere fact that licensing has...

-Down to Earth Chhattisgarh's much appreciated public distribution scheme is falling apart due to corruption and mismanagement As chhattisgarh prepares for panchayat election at the end of the year, the fate of Ration card holders in the state is in limbo. During a verification drive in July-August, the state government found almost 1.3 million "unnecessary" Ration cards in the possession of people. These cards have been taken back by the government and...