-The Indian Express The International Monetary Fund’s recent downgrading of the growth forecast for India from 6.2 per cent to 4.9 per cent for 2012, which came on the heels of the decline in the actual growth rate to below 5.5 per cent in the first half of 2012, has brought reforms back to the centrestage of the policy discourse. Which reforms are needed and why? India’s growth trajectory has been unique....

-The Times of India Come July and you will have cash equivalent to your cooking gas subsidy in your bank account, marking the biggest shift in delivery of handouts which could help government curb leakages and reduce the strain on public finances. The switch is part of the ambitious three-phase deadline set by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make the "kind-to-cash" transition based on the Aadhaar numbers. At a meeting chaired by Pulok...

-The Hindustan Times Underprivileged people of Muktsar district, the home turf of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, received a lion's share for construction of houses in 2011 in the run-up to the assembly elections, it has emerged. Funds to the tune of over Rs. 40 crore were pumped into Muktsar district alone from the social infrastructure fund (SIF) to help economically weaker sections (EWS) construct or repair their houses, while five districts,...

-Outlook Hyderabad: New approaches such as Public Private Partnerships(PPP) and community-based activities would go a long way in maintaining healthy ecosystems and improving livelihoods, a senior World Bank official said here today. Observing that there is not enough public money to invest in the biodiversity needs of the world, Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development, said new approaches are needed to finance nature conservation efforts. The World Bank has a...

-The Business Standard Cabinet decisions on fertiliser are not enough Of the two fertiliser-related decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs at its recent meeting, the token hike of Rs 50 per tonne in urea prices is inconsequential, and the new mechanism for subsidising fertiliser is problematic. An increase of less than one per cent in urea prices will do little to bring down the subsidy bill or to reduce...