-First Post If we are willing to believe the best practice examples of cash transfers from Brazil and Philippines, and trust the UPA on the fact that their cash-for-subsidy is going to be all hunky-dory, we also have a right to believe Sitaram Yechury’s concerns about the fancy plan. According to the CPM leader, the cash transfer is a ploy by the government to dismantle the PDS and systematically reduce subsidies. “This is...

-Deccan Herald Say it is a bid to lure voters, cut subsidies The Left and civil society are up in the arms against Aadhar-based direct cash transfer scheme, arguing that it was aimed at luring voters with an eye on the 2014 elections. A day after the announcement of the details, the CPM, civil society organisations including the one led by Aruna Roy and Medha Patkar and newly formed Aam Aadmi Party, all...

-The Telegraph The CPM today claimed the government was legally bound to have its decision on allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail ratified by Parliament and urged the Centre to agree on a discussion under a rule that entails voting. Party MP Sitaram Yechury said according to Section 48 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, amendments to permit FDI in the sector have to be endorsed by Parliament within a time...

-NDTV Officially, the UPA says it will abide by the Lok Sabha Speaker's decision on whether or not a discussion in the House on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail will be followed by a vote. It seems, however, to be preparing for that vote and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath will meet the BJP's Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley today to discuss modalities. The Manmohan Singh government had so far...

-The Telegraph More than one in eight registered pesticides, including the controversial endosulfan, endanger people’s reproductive and nervous systems and may cause cancer and congenital deformities, a Supreme Court-appointed expert committee has said. The panel has suggested these pesticides should be phased out over the next two years instead of their existing stocks being immediately incinerated, as the latter process would cost the exchequer Rs 1,189 crore. A public interest litigation moved last...