-The Economic Times I have often been asked how Chhattisgarh manages the contradictory pulls of sound fiscal health and welfare schemes. How did we manage to roll out food and nutrition security to not just the most needy among us but to almost the entire population of a state that has had a history of malnutrition and neglect, without jeopardising Chhattisgarh's finances? As finance minister for the last eight years, I have...

-The Hindustan Times Investors say the new land acquisition bill approved by Parliament this week has made things more difficult. Pro-farm civil-society advocates say it hasn't gone far enough to protect farmer interests. If both sides are unhappy, an inside joke goes, it must be a pretty good legislation that has struck the right balance. The debate over land acquisition, however, is no laughing matter. In a country where half the people live...

-The Hindu Growing child population puts these two States at an advantage; developed States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu have hit their peaks, say census data The workforce of the future will come from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with developed States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu hitting - or even bypassing - their peaks, new census data shows. Two simultaneous and opposing processes are going on in India, the ‘single year age data' released...

-The Hindu Absence of safe cycle tracks and lack of pavement networks have pushed people to motorised transport Across the world, in the wake of the fuel crisis and environmental challenges, cities are increasingly paying attention to bicycling and walking - non-motorised modes of transport (NMT). As studies show, if 5 per cent of the trips made in cities across the world shift from car to NMT, the savings in terms of...

-The Indian Express In Gujarat, growth relies on indebtedness. And relegates development. The Gujarat pattern of development has often been arraigned from the left because of its social deficits. Indeed, the state's social indicators do not match its economic performance. With 23 per cent of its citizens living below the poverty line in 2010, Gujarat does better than the Indian average - 29.8 per cent - but it reduced this proportion by...