The government is likely to peg fertiliser subsidy for next financial year at Rs 66,000 crore, lower than the actual outgo in 2011-12.  "A moderate increase is likely," said a government official. The actual subsidy bill for the fiscal is likely to come at over Rs 70,000 crore though the government had budgeted for just Rs 49,997 crore in the budget 2011-12.  Private analysts had soon after the presentation of the last...

One of the key factors to inclusive growth is financial inclusion for all. Financial inclusion refers to universal access to a wide range of banking solutions and financial services in a fair, predictable and transparent manner at affordable costs. The poor tend to be ignored because the transaction costs in serving them are high. Initiatives that reduce these costs will allow service providers to begin thinking of financial services for...

Bowing to the clamour for scrutiny of the accounts of private power distribution companies operating in the city, the Delhi government has finally approved their audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). According to a cabinet note, the government sanctioned an audit of the three discoms — BSES Yamuna and Rajdhani, and NDPL — “since inception.” The decision to get a CAG audit carried out was disclosed during a hearing in...

-The Telegraph Most poor families in Jharkhand may not have heard of the word “bank”. But they are banking on a better future for their daughters, thanks to the ubiquitous village post office, which they are now embracing to reap the benefits of a thoughtful government scheme. Over 2,000 saving accounts have been opened at different post offices across districts in just one month to tap the Mukhyamantri Ladli Laxmi Yojana that...

A bidi-smoking petty contractor who suddenly bought two Boleros and a former newspaper hawker who zipped about Chhattisgarh’s jungles in a Toyota may hold the key to a question bugging the custodians of national security. What the police want to know is: are business houses paying off the Maoists to be able to operate deep inside central India’s mineral-rich guerrilla zones? Chhattisgarh police say that when contractor B.K. Lala’s Bank Account suddenly...