-The Telegraph Union minister Kapil Sibal has promised measures to ensure that the Centre’s curbs on cooking-gas subsidy would not derail the midday meal scheme that serves eight crore children in 12 lakh elementary schools. The Telegraph had reported on Wednesday that self-help groups had stopped preparing midday meals in over 50 primary schools in North 24-Parganas since Monday saying they could not afford the cylinders’ new price. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had...

-The Hindu In its report on the road map to fiscal consolidation, the three-member committee headed by the former Finance Secretary and 13th Finance Commission Chairman, Vijay L. Kelkar, has suggested a host of “bold reform” measures on ways of slashing the subsidy bill which, it admitted, would result in some short term pain and hardships. The committee’s recommendations also include sale of surplus land with public sector undertakings (PSUs), fast-tracking of...

-NDTV The Kelkar committee has said subsidies pose the greatest risk to the country's fiscal situation, while suggesting that the excise and service tax rates should be cut to 8% over the next few years. The panel calls for the need to step up disinvestment drive in state-run firms for fiscal consolidation. It says diesel should be deregulated by 2014 and all subsidy on cooking gas be cut by 2015. All subsidies must be...

-The Telegraph The government today said there was no ban on issuing fresh cooking gas connections but there was a three-week break, pending elimination of duplicate connections and update of software to take into account the six-a-year subsidy cap. State-owned oil firms are carrying out a nationwide exercise to eliminate multiple connections at the same address. Only one LPG connection is allowed at one address while the rest are being disconnected. “When a...

-The Telegraph The enormity of the real challenge before Manmohan Singh is far higher than that posed by Mamata Banerjee. A “perfect storm” is gathering around the economy, according to a Centre-commissioned report packed with suggestions for a series of tough measures that will affect daily life and test the government’s resolve to wade further into unpalatable waters. The report presented by the Vijay Kelkar panel, which was asked to suggest a road...