-Reuters   NEW DELHI: The finance ministry is working on a proposal for the new government to cut welfare spending and rein in the deficit in its first budget, to allay fears of fiscal slippage that would increase the risks of a sovereign credit downgrade, officials said. Two senior ministry officials told Reuters the plan would make it possible for Narendra Modi's incoming government to reduce the current year's fiscal deficit and...

-Down to Earth   As India elects new government, the 12th Five Year Plan may no longer be pro-poor MUCH hope is pinned on the 12th Five Year Plan that was declared as the first health Plan by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, while drafting the Plan, also termed it "pro-poor" and promised the maximum budget for social welfare schemes. But as the Plan comes into force this...

-The Business Standard   Lots of assumptions but little to act upon in the Planning Commission report on low carbon growth It will take around $834 billion for the Indian economy to put Indian economy on a low carbon mode taking its emission intensity in 2030 down by 42% as compared to 2007 levels. This is the macro picture drawn by the Low Carbon growth study commissioned by India's Planning Commission. The study is...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: When a new HRD minister takes over next week, he will be virtually presiding over a mess left behind by the previous government. In the first few weeks as the debris is cleared, the new minister will discover the two contrasting worlds of school and higher education. Despite the problems and handicap the Right to Education faces, the last five years have seen the historic...

-Down to Earth   The new government may take efforts to eradicate the disease, says BJP representative  Majority of the seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of western Bihar have fallen in Bharatiya Janata Party's account. Will the change of guard bring any relief to the children dying from Japanese Encephalitis in the area? Aditya Nath, BJP representative in Parliament from Gorakhpur, who had been vociferously speaking about the issue, now senses a...