-The Indian Express Even as Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s Union Budget for 2013-14 is being touted as a ‘balanced’ budget, members of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) have criticised it for not having done enough for the social sector. They feel the budget, which comes just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due next year, falls short on delivering to the less advantaged groups and is relatively...

-The Hindu India’s infrastructure is bursting at the seams, unable to cope with the pressure from the growing economy. Developing the sector will help to create jobs and result in higher economic growth The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is likely to grow 5.5 per cent and the economic slowdown shows no sign of halting. India’s infrastructure is bursting at the seams, unable to cope with the pressure from the growing economy. Spurring...

-Economic and Political Weekly The proposed legislation on the National Food Security Act has been steadily watered down since it was fi rst mooted in 2009. The Parliamentary Standing Committee that examined the 2011 Bill has disappointingly continued with "targeting". If the government passes the bill incorporating the committee's suggestions, a historic opportunity to combat hunger and malnutrition would be lost. Ankita Aggarwal (aggarwal.ankita87@gmail.com) is a Research Scholar at the Centre for...

-DNA Crashing economy, lower revenue generation and less then expected tax collection will show its impact on the upcoming budget. The biggest loser is going to be the rural development ministry, which is likely to see a decline in central assistance for its welfare schemes. Rural development has been the top priority of the UPA-2. However, grim economic growth has forced finance minister P Chidambaram to cut the budget of the...

-Down to Earth Town's municipal body asked to first address objections filed by residents The decision of the municipal authorities of Khandwa, a medium-sized town in Madhya Pradesh, to hand over water supply services to a private company, has been stalled. The Consumer Forum of Khandwa stayed the notification for water supply privatisation on December 31 and asked the city’s civic body to address all the objections raised by residents against the...