Direct cash transfers or food coupons should be used by the government to provide services to the poor, says Farzana Afridi, Assistant Professor, Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Afridi, who obtained her PhD in economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MA in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, says that although the Mid Day Meal Programme is having a substantial effect, the...

-The Hindu Continued self-education is indispensable to honing the skills of lawyers in emerging areas of practice and to their social relevance in a changing world The Indian legal profession has grown over a short period of less than 50 years to become the world’s largest and most influential in the governance of the country. At the same time, it reflects the diversity of Indian society, its caste structure, inequalities and urbanised...

-The Economic Times With carbon markets at an all time low and prospects of international long-term finance dim, the Planning Commission has suggested reworking the Rs 23,000 crore National Action Plan on climate change. It has reduced the number of missions and refocused them in line with "priorities". In 2008, the government had laid out a national strategy that would address India's development concerns and the challenges that climate change would present....

-Reuters India opened its supermarket sector to foreign chains on Friday after months of dithering, pushing ahead with the boldest reforms yet in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government as it tries to revive the country's tottering economic growth. The government has decided to allow foreign airlines to buy stakes of up to 49 per cent in local carriers, heavy industries minister Praful Patel said on Friday, in a much-awaited policy move that...

-The Telegraph Swiss pharma company Novartis today told the Supreme Court that if it gets an Indian patent on its anti-cancer drug Glivec, it would continue giving free drugs to 85 per cent patients till 2018 provided prices were left untouched. But the court described its scheme of classifying people on the basis of their incomes as “too complicated” and again urged the company to reduce prices. Whatever the scheme, the end result...