-Outlook The real story of a ‘decisive' UPA blowing away the eight-year cloud around Posco's project Bend It Like Moily Seven reasons why UPA's pre-poll green clearance for Posco is more about spiel than steel Posco got green clearance after the sudden removal of MoEF Jayanthi Natarajan, who was reluctant to sign on the file. The nod came days before South Korean President Park Geun-hye's visit;...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: BJP on Wednesday made a strong pitch for increasing the minimum pension to beneficiaries under the employees pension scheme (EPS) to Rs 3,000 per month and link it to the price index, against Rs 1,000 proposed by the government. "The BJP demands that the minimum pension under EPS 95 (EPF Pension) should be declared at Rs 3,000 per month and not at Rs 1,000 as government...

-The Hindu Business Line Clientelism - tying benefits to political choices - cannot work because voting preferences cannot be ascertained. Do parties and their local agents link access to government services and benefits from government welfare schemes to how voters vote, or are expected to vote? This political strategy, which social scientists refer to as clientelism, depends on a massive investment in local leaders who collect information on voters' party preferences, vote choices...

-The Hindustan Times Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and made a strong case for increasing the quota of subsidised LPG cylinders for households besides sought the passage of key anti-corruption bills in the forthcoming session of Parliament. Congress sources said Gandhi is expected to meet the Prime Minister once again in the coming days exclusively on the issue of raising the quota of subsidised LPG cylinders. Soon...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) is finalizing a report on yet another instance of massive loss to the state exchequer because of favours shown to private parties by the political establishment. The CAG's audit report on the Taj Expressway project could also find place among India's biggest scams, with successive Uttar Pradesh governments being accused of causing loss of thousands of crores to the...