-Frontline The Congress-led UPA seems to be betting heavily on the cash transfer scheme as a means to return to power in the next general elections. DECEMBER 2012 may go down in history as the month when the Congress party created its own “India Shining” moment: the moment when it started believing its own hype, and even deluded itself into thinking that its perception was so widely shared that it could provide...

-Outlook Raipur: Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly today passed the Food Security Bill aimed at providing food and nutritional security to around 50 lakh families in the state. Chief Minister Raman Singh told the House that the provisions of the bill ensured that adequate quantity of quality food will be available at affordable prices to nearly 50 lakh families. The new provisions will add a burden of Rs 2,311 crore on the state exchequer. Hailing Chhattisgarh...

-The Financial Express Governments now get into the paid news act. It’s high time for a lesson on ethics for all concerned The spectre of paid news is back, and this time in a murkier form. Where the belief has long been that private companies pay newspapers and TV channels to ‘plant’ stories, it seems that even state governments aren’t above such unethical practices. According to an Indian Express exclusive, the Chhattisgarh...

-The Hindu Absolutely nothing wrong in funding the channels in a transparent way, says official Raipur: Raman Singh’s BJP government “has paid for favourable news stories” and “regular live coverage” to a host of national and local television channels, an English language newspaper reported. Furthermore, the senior editors of the channels concerned allegedly wrote to the public relations (PR) department of the Chhattisgarh government “negotiating” rates to produce “news stories” and to ensure...

-The Indian Express Raipur: In May 2010, Hindi TV channel Sahara Samay presented a five-point proposal to the public relations department of the Chhattisgarh government about covering government activities during 2010-11: 1. Two-minute special package: Sahara Samay will show the package 15 times a day during news bulletins. It will contain “CM’s speeches, government policies, and special news related to various departments.” Cost: Rs 3.28 crore per year at Rs 3,000 per...