The recent brouhaha following the release of the poverty headcount ratio has triggered heated discussions with regard to their reliability. While it is very clear that the completeness and the consistency of the statistics are not in question, what is being questioned is the possible fudging of the data to reduce the poverty line. The data has not been fudged, as has been brought out very clearly by many authors....

A survey of 71 cities across the country conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has shown that officially 82 per cent of all the water that municipalities of these cities supply comes from surface water resources, and the rest comes from groundwater resources. But of these 71 cities, 11 depend almost completely on groundwater for public water supply. In the remaining, agencies supply water from surface sources by...

-The Hindu The Centre will include a number of additional activities in the work schedule of its flagship programme MGNREGS, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said here on Saturday. “On Tuesday [May 8], I will announce a major expansion of the activities taken up by MGNREGS on the floor of the House,” Mr. Ramesh told journalists. He said inclusion of new activities would boost the performance of the scheme. An expert...

Alarmed by its proactive role, the three ‘pillars’ of our democracy set out to weaken the fourth estate Fundamentalisms do not necessarily announce their arrival by banging a hammer on our heads. Freedoms are often lost in little steps. The process creeps in quietly but insidiously. The path is often complex and defies a simple narrative. But here’s a straightforward fact: a concerted attempt is being made to censor, control...

Faced with stark hint from Trinamool boss Mamata Banerjee that she might act independently of UPA in the presidential poll if her demand for financial relief for West Bengal was not conceded in a "few days", the Centre has scrambled to find ways to organize assistance for debt-stricken state. Officials handling the task now say they can rush relief to Bengal without having to seek a clearance from the Finance Commission....