A new draft Bill holds much promise to augment the development delivery mechanism. It is the new mining Bill, 2011, which has specific provisions for earmarking funds for development purposes in the mineral-rich districts that happen to be the regions with high poverty ratios. Revamped mining legislation can boost transparency in the vexed sector that seems much prone to illegality, corruption and extensive fraud.  Further, a well-crafted mining law can actually...

Contributory factors: coal shortage, overdrawal by States, early winter and of course, Telangana agitation The country is facing a severe shortage of electricity. coal shortage in power plants and heavy overdrawal by some States have aggravated the crisis, especially during the festive months. In addition, the setting in of winter has led to a decline in hydro power production. In the South, the Telangana agitation has badly hit power supplies in Andhra...

The Planning Commission’s poverty line affidavit has exposed how blissfully ignorant the glorified economists of the UPA are of the true reality of India The 2G spectrum scam, Commonwealth Games loot, cash-for-vote bribery, Lokpal fiasco, Pranab-Chidambaram duel on the Finance Ministry note, and the count goes on. It seems the UPA-II is stuck in a rut.  As if the battering by the united Opposition and hauling over the coals by civil...

Indian ministers' foreign travel plans have been grounded by the government's austerity drive. Till July 1 this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had turned down as many as 24 foreign trip applications from members of his ministerial council, compared to 10 such refusals in the whole of 2010. The change is stark considering that the PM had earlier been obliging almost all his colleagues. In 2009, after the UPA returned to...

-The Deccan Chronicle   The approval by the Cabinet of the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation Bill is clearly meant to facilitate the acquisition of land in the mineral-rich districts of the country. Several large projects, including those of the richest non-resident Indian, Mr Lakshmi Mittal (Arcelor), and the South Korean giant Posco have been held up because of serious objections and protests from the affected tribal populations. The bill stresses on...