-Tehelka Edited Excerpts From An Interview NOTED ECONOMIST and Columbia University Professor Jagdish Bhagwati’s pro-free trade stance is well-known. A friend of the prime minister and his batch mate from Cambridge University, Professor Bhagwati feels the UPA’s departure from the stagnation of the past few years is a welcome change, and lauds the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail. In an interview to TEHELKA Business Editor Shaili Chopra, Bhagwati says more...

-The Hindu Highlighting the importance of proper audit of the non-government organisations (NGOs), particularly those getting grants from the government, a report based on information received under RTI reveals that the Union and State governments give yearly grants worth Rs.1,000 crore to various NGOs. “At a time when the grants to the NGOs given by the Centre have been increASIng — from Rs. 561 crore in 2002-2003 to Rs. 835 crore in...

-Live Mint The International Monetary fund (IMF) has warned India against licensing corporate entities to step into the business of commercial banking, saying the risks associated with such a move potentially outweigh the benefits of creating more banks. IMF’s Financial System Stability Assessment Update said it would be prudent for India to first put in place and gain sufficient experience in implementing a comprehensive framework for the purpose before considering the entry...

-The Indian Express The national water framework law proposed by the Union government could not be more timely. Even as the onerous task of persuading state governments to accept the idea remains unfinished, the proposed framework, as an overarching statement of general principles that lays down the broad contours within which the Centre, the states and the local bodies can exercise their respective powers on exploiting water, is a comprehensive step...

-The Telegraph A rights organisation today accused the Centre and state governments of giving huge, unaccounted grants to NGOs including blacklisted ones, often against a bribe. The ASIan Centre for Human Rights said it was bASIng its claims on replies to a series of RTI applications it had filed in 2010. ReleASIng the report, “India’s Funds to NGOs Squandered”, the rights body’s director, Suhas Chakma, made these claims at a news conference...