It's the land of freedom, of bright lights and burgers, where daring entrepreneurs arrive from across the planet in search of fame and fortune. The United States of America - the world's melting pot - has been a symbol of hope for centuries, but behind this vision of wealth and wonder is a tale often untold. Food security, lack of water rights and unemployment might sound like the type of problems...

Nandan Nilekani-led Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP) on Friday submitted its report to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee suggesting systematic change in the way key projects are incubated and executed. The report has mooted the idea of a "mission leader" for every project and a dedicated mission execution team. "Strong support from the top leadership within government, dedicated team at the level of project implementation and ownership and commitment at various...

The promise made by UPA II that it will ensure food security for Indians through legislation that guarantees the Right to Food seems, in its view, to have been an error. In a multi-stage process that reflects the pulls and pressures within the policy-making elite, the Food Security Bill has been diluted so much that it marks a reversal rather than an advance compared to the status quo. Let us...

The government has a plan to reach welfare to the poor without wasting money. It wants to put hard cash in their hands instead of spending on welfare programmes. To begin with, it wants to end the public distribution system of food grain and give money directly to the people. Its logic: the new system of cash transfer will plug leakages and save an enormous amount of money. But is it...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday promised to usher in more reforms in the scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and increase the number of days of job guaranteed to Below the Poverty Line households. Speaking at a function here to mark the completion of the fifth year of the MGNREGA, Dr. Singh promised to reform the delivery mechanism...