-The Times of India Can Jairam Ramesh become the next president of the World Bank? Unlikely, but in the steady drumbeat of the demand that the next World Bank president must come from the developing world, the rural development minister’s name is being heard alongside several other competent names from the wrong side of the poverty divide. An independent website, worldbankpresident.org, which is running a poll on who should be the next...
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Half Steps against Honour Crimes
-Economic and Political Weekly The Law Commission’s bill on combating honour crimes falls short of what is required. Honour crimes – the illegal decrees by caste/clan/community panchayats to annul or prohibit marriages, social boycotts and even murder of couples – have finally drawn the attention of the State. A consultation paper released by the Law Commission contains a draft bill – The Prohibition of Unlawful Assembly (Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial...
More »Time to end West's farm subsidy as a condition for funding European bailouts: Swaminathan A Aiyar
-The Economic Times The IMF wants to increase its lending capacity by $1 trillion, to rescue distressed countries in the eurozone plus those hit by aftershocks from the eurozone. But US is struggling with fiscal problems of its own, Japan now has the highest debt/GDP ratio in the world (over 200%), and Europe is moving into an austerity phase. Clearly, a significant chunk of the new trillion will have to come from...
More »Ramesh proposes big role for gram sabhas in tribal land acquisition
-The Hindu It will make land acquisition more difficult for private players The Union government proposes to take yet another shot at the crucial land reforms agenda in a bid to help the rural poor affected by a host of land issues and inflation. Having introduced the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in Parliament, Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, who also holds the Department of Land Resources, aims to address...
More »Govt departments interpret RTI law differently by Chetan Chauhan
-The Hindustan Times Different Central government departments have different interpretations of the transparency law, Right To Information, when it came to disclosing information. While some government departments have proactively disclosed the information, others have denied similar information citing prohibitory clauses of the RTI law. This reporter had filed a RTI application with the Cabinet Secretariat seeking copies of the minutes of the Group of Ministers and Empowered Group of Ministers constituted since June...
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