-The Hindu The funds collected can be used only for the designated purpose and cannot be diverted More than Rs. 1.4 lakh crore of funds collected by the government under various cesses for purposes as varied as higher education, road development and the welfare of construction workers are lying unutilised, shows an analysis by The Hindu of a Comptroller and Auditor-General report on government finances and answers by Ministers in the Lok...

-The Hindu Business Line The new travel policy in Delhi can lead to a commuting disaster if public transport is not able to absorb the surplus Currently, 56.81 lakh two-wheelers and 27.90 lakh cars and jeeps ply on Delhi’s roads, according to the official state government statistics. These figures don’t include the taxis. Which means a total of 84.71 lakh private vehicles. In most cases, one vehicle equates to one person. Let’s say...

-Press Release from India Resource Center New Delhi: A proposal to tax sugar sweetened beverages like tobacco in India is being welcomed by public health advocates. The proposal to increase sin taxes on aerated drinks is part of the recommendations made by India’s Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian on the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the parliament of India. Taxation to reduce consumption of tobacco has been successful when used...

-Livemint.com A key condition for the success of road rationing is that alternatives are easily available A big debate on urban transport policy has been triggered by the decision of the state government of Delhi to restrict automobile usage according to the licence plate number. The plan is to significantly reduce vehicular traffic by allowing odd and even numbers to ply the roads on alternate days. Given the city’s atrocious air...

-Livemint.com A large number of central schemes end up curbing the autonomy of states In some ways, the thunder of finance minister Arun Jaitley’s first full-year budget was stolen by the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) report. Released just a few days before the budget speech was made, the FFC brought in significant changes in state-centre finances by increasing the devolution to states from 32% to 42% of the net Union tax...