-The Hindu With the economic boom petering out, those who benefitted from it are angry with the government for the Food Security Bill because it is paying attention to the needs of the underprivileged for a change This week's received wisdom insists that the Indian economy has irretrievably collapsed because on Monday, the Lok Sabha passed the National Food Security Bill (NFSB). The Hindu Business Line headline (Aug.28, page 1) said it...

-The Hindu The currencies of India, Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey have fallen quite dramatically against the dollar in the past few months. Whatever their domestic weaknesses, the reasons for this unprecedented decline - ranging between 13 to 21 per cent - are primarily global. In the past 48 hours, as tension mounts in West Asia, an already unprecedented situation has become even more difficult. On Wednesday, the rupee, as...

-Economic and Political Weekly The government has notified a Draft Land Reforms Policy which, on paper, has all the requisites of an earnest programme. Yet, the near total failure of earlier efforts at land reforms in India leave little room for hope that something substantial will at last be done to combat landlessness. Harsh Mander (manderharsh@gmail.com) is with the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi, and works with survivors of mass violence,...

-The Financial Express Amid the government's efforts to curb fiscal deficit, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Tuesday criticised the Centre for cutting down on capital spending, over-stating spending on centrally sponsored schemes and doling out some subsidies without obtaining Parliament approval. UPA's flagship scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) also came under the scanner with the CAG questioning whether the entire amount booked for the job scheme...

-The Hindu Political parties have acted as judge, jury, supplicant and advocate in their move to amend the RTI Act and exempt themselves from its purview. Their rhetoric on transparency is more hollow than ever A friend called the other day, and said: "I want to congratulate all of you in the RTI community, because you have managed to do what no one, and nothing else has managed to for a long...