-Live Mint   As United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi prepares to intervene next week in the great national debate about who is poor, she might want to visit north-eastern Mumbai to see how the poorest are not even classified as such and how a giant government scheme to save their children from malnutrition is failing. The nauseating stench from a mountain of garbage greets a visitor to Rafi Nagar at the base...

The government's new guidelines for cybercafes will deepen the digital divide while doing nothing to curb terrorism. Following last month's tragic bomb blast at the Delhi High Court, in which over 13 people were killed, police traced an email from the ‘Harkat-ul-Jihad' claiming responsibility for the attack to a cybercafe in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, and arrested three people, including the owner. In fact, many recent terrorist attacks have been linked to...

The basic problem with the Approach Paper, as with its predecessor, is that its theoretical paradigm is wrong. WHAT used to be said of the Bourbon kings of France applies equally to the Indian Planning Commission: “They learn nothing and they forget nothing.” The Approach Paper to the Twelfth Five-Year Plan gives one a sense of déjà vu. It is hardly any different from the Approach Paper to the previous Plan...

-The Times of India   The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Bill, cleared by the cabinet last week, signals that the government`s heart is in the right place. Under its provisions, coal firms must share 26% of their net profits with project area residents, while non-coal miners will have to provide them a sum equal to royalty paid to state governments. No system is in place at present to properly compensate...

An ambitious scheme to make higher-education loans more attractive to poor students has failed to meet its target because of inadequate marketing and lack of coordination among various agencies. The scheme, launched in 2010 by the human resource development (HRD) ministry, gives full interest subsidy (a student will not have to pay the interest for the loan he or she avails) to students from families earning less than Rs.4.5 lakh a...