-The Hindu The direct cash transfer scheme launched a year ago in Kotkasim for providing kerosene subsidies has pushed legitimate beneficiaries out of the system The nondescript town of Kotkasim in the Alwar district of Rajasthan had its Peepli Live moment after it was chosen for a pilot experiment with “direct cash transfers” of kerosene subsidies. According to the district administration, the scheme led to net savings of 79 per cent in...

-The Times of India The income tax department's '360 degree profiling' had resulted in former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's contacts with several bigwigs coming to LIGht. She may have fallen off the radar but the government plans to strengthen the mechanism with finance minister P Chidambaram initiating a pilot project with the FIU (Financial IntelLIGence Unit) to integrate data on all suspicious transactions with the '360 degree' database. Financial transactions of hundreds...

-Outlook A scheme to credit kerosene subsidies to beneficiaries’ accounts flopped real big in Rajasthan Dharamvir Chaudhary’s fair price shop in Kot Kasim, Rajasthan, is deserted. A year ago the tehsil played host to an experiment by the government: residents were asked to buy kerosene—a fuel most of India’s poor use to cook and LIGht lamps—at market price (Rs 50 a litre) from shops like Dharamvir’s. People were promised that the...

-The Economic Times A publicity campaign by the Gujarat Congress meant to show the NarendraModi government in poor LIGht has boomeranged on the party.   Congress was caught on the wrong foot when it was revealed that the photograph it used in its posters to portray alleged malnutrition among Gujarati children was that of an emaciated Sri Lankan child. The advertisement, which appeared recently in various newspapers and websites, said, "proper nutrition to 45%...

-The Indian Express The UPA has long been planning a shift to direct cash transfers for poor households, with a view to replacing the 3.23 lakh crore worth of unwieldy subsidies currently in place. Last year, the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had spoken of the famously inefficient food and fertiliser subsidies, and of a comprehensive overhaul through cash transfers. Now, that plan has been fleshed out further. The prime minister...