The day Kumari Selja assumed charge as the Union minister for Housing and urban poverty alleviation in the second United Progressive Alliance government, she got an unusual gift: a set of two books from none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The books, The Other Path and The Mystery of Capital, were by eminent Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, hailed as the “poor man’s capitalist”for his work on the informal sector....

They plan to raise bank loans to build their own homes and take up agriculture Landless Dalit families in a Kancheepuram village have used the Right to Information (RTI) Act to prompt the district administration to hand over land that was originally allotted to them several years ago, thanks to the initiative of a grassroots NGO. A total of 106 Dalit families in Alisoor village were allotted 100 sq m...

India can’t be made slum-free very soon, says a government panel. Why did we even try? So it’s kinda official: India won’t be able to make slums disappear in the ‘next five years’. When in June 2009, President Pratibha Patil told Parliament that ‘her government’ was planning to make the country slum-free in half a decade through a new scheme, not much attention was paid. However, like the eradication of poverty...

Alarmed with the rising number of pending RTI complaints, the State Information Commission is learnt to have apprised the state government of the increasing work pressure on Information Commissioners. The commission — where as many as 32,811 cases were pending at the end of March — has also suggested ways to lessen the burden of complaints. The government, in response, has shot a missive to various departments asking them to...

A global survey’s rating of Indian consumers as the greenest in the world, though significant in itself, should be viewed in perspective. In the annual survey carried out by the National Geographic Society and the international polling firm GlobeScan, India topped the ranking for the eco-friendly consumption pattern of its population for the second year in a row. Brazil has been adjudged second, China third and the US last in...