-The Times of India NEW DELHI: At a time when NGT-as well as Supreme Court-has been emphasizing the need for a robust public transport system to rein in the rising pollution as well as the number of private vehicles on city roads, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal feels running buses is not the government's job. Kejriwal, who was speaking at an event organized by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on Tuesday, said:...

-Economic and Political Weekly While the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 is a progressive piece of legislation that recognises farmers' rights to seed, it demands payment of an annual Maintenance fee by the farmers to protect the varieties which they have been cultivating and conserving for years, only because these varieties have been brought under legal protection through national legislation. Parameswaran Prajeesh (prajeesh@mssrf.res.in) is a researcher with the...

-The Hindu Business Line Chennai: The Fourteenth Finance Commission has formulated its recommendations without any reference to the distinction between Plan and non-Plan outlays. This will facilitate greater attention to Maintenance expenditure, and reduce incentives to boost capital works and show large-sized plans, said YV Reddy, Chairman of the Commission and former Governor of the RBI. Delivering the Raja J Chelliah Memorial Lecture at the Madras School of Economics on Monday, Reddy...

-The Indian Express The budget aims at economic growth and social protection. This is welcome. So are provisions for financial inclusion, housing, water, sanitation and rural electrification. But there are also substantial cuts in crucial social sectors and key omissions that are likely to undermine its stated economic objectives. Consider agriculture, environment and women. First, double-digit growth or poverty reduction is unlikely without strong, sustained agricultural growth. In 2014-15, agriculture grew at...

-Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) Press Release   New Delhi: The direction indicated by the Finance Minister's Budget Speech in general and that of the taxation policies in particular indicate a quantum leap being taken towards market fundamentalism. In the absence of any increase in the overall spending capacity of the government (Centre and States combined), the steps for fiscal decentralization (from Centre to States) have been constrained, implying only...