-The Telegraph The Union human resource development ministry will tell the Supreme Court that private coaching institutions do not come under its jurisdiction and it cannot regulate their activities. In response to a notice issued by the apex court on a Public Interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Students Federation of India, the students' wing of the CPM, the ministry is expected to make a distinction between private coaching and educational programmes...

-Outlook As subsidies for the poor continue to be under attack, a ground-up report from 10-states shows how well welfare schemes have worked over the last 10 years. Ahead of Elections 2014, rights-based welfare schemes are under attack. To those who argue ‘Dolenomics' doesn't work, a survey of five schemes in 10 states shows that the Rs 1,68,478 crore annually the nation spends is making a real and tangible difference on...

-Down to Earth Bad loans of public sector banks to business are more than double the food subsidy There are some things you simply do not do in the liberalised economy. You do not put bank loans under the lens-unless these are ballooning out of control. That is, until such loans are likely to jeopardise the entire banking system and send the economy into a tailspin. And there's another thing: you don't...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Minimum support price (MSP) of most of the food-grains has been increased by over 100% in the past 10 years, but it hardly benefited farmers in eastern and central India as majority there have not even heard of such procurement system. The situation is equally bad in other parts - except in states like Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Western Uttar Pradesh - where farmers don't get...

-Down to Earth Delisting fruits and vegetables from APMC Act in Congress-ruled states will not benefit farmers Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi last December said fruits and vegetables will become affordable if states allowed farmers to directly sell their produce to consumers. He also directed the chief ministers in Congress-ruled states to delist fruits and vegetables from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. The Act makes it mandatory for farmers to sell...