-Firstpost.com Putting state governments that promised loan waivers for farmers in difficulty, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday ruled out such waivers by the Centre insisting states can utilise their own resources in this regard. He clarified that the Centre will not adopt a selective approach by helping one state and not the others. The move is likely to put even BJP governments, including Devendra Fadnavis administration in Maharashtra and the newly...
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SY Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner, interviewed by Vrinda Gopinath (Scroll.in)
-Scroll.in In this environment of majoritarianism, we must seriously consider proportional representation, adds SY Quraishi. SY Quraishi, who was Chief Election Commissioner from July 2011 to June 2012, is known to be outspoken about several issues regarding electoral reform both when he was in the Election Commission and after he retired. He has asked for public funding of political parties, putting an expenditure cap on them, financial transparency among parties, and...
More »Assembly elections: Richer, educated candidates fared well in the 5 states -Harry Stevens
-Hindustan Times Wealthier candidates were far more likely to win their constituency than their less wealthy competitors, according to an analysis of election data and candidate affidavits by the Hindustan Times. Across 689 constituencies in the assembly elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, the wealthiest candidate won 33.5% of the time, compared to just 24.6% for the second wealthiest candidate and 17% for the third wealthiest. The odds were heavily...
More »Punjab: High debt level, at Rs 1.25L crore, a major challenge for new government
-The Indian Express One of the key issues that any incoming government in Punjab has to immediately grapple with is high state debt estimated at Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the last year’s budget. A clutch of other key reforms such as improving land allotment process and streamlining property registration would also need the attention of the new government. Punjab has steadily accumulated the debt over the years, resulting in its...
More »EC requests RBI to allow higher withdrawals for poll candidates
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a relief to candidates contesting the upcoming assembly polls, the EC on Wednesday requested RBI to hike the weekly limit for withdrawals from their poll expenditure accounts to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 24,000 imposed for all in view of the demonetisation. Stating that it had been apprised about the problems being faced by candidates due to imposition of limits on withdrawal of cash from...
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