-The Indian Express On FDI in retail, BJP and CPM positions range from inconsistent to obstructionist The responses of the major political formations to economic reform seem to be situational. They champion investments and market-friendly measures when they are in office. When in the opposition, they take to the streets to oppose it. Shaken and stirred by the big bang of Manmohanomics 2.0, the Left and the Right plan to launch protests...

Direct cash transfers or food coupons should be used by the government to provide services to the poor, says Farzana Afridi, Assistant Professor, Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Afridi, who obtained her PhD in economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MA in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, says that although the Mid Day Meal Programme is having a substantial effect, the...

-The Telegraph The Planning Commission has proposed a slash in fuel and fertiliser subsidies, and subsidy delivery through cash transfer to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts rather than by providing cheaper goods. Commission’s deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia said providing food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies through cash transfer would help check leaks — that is, illegal sale of the subsidised goods in the market. Sources suggested that cash transfer was being considered mainly for...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today said it couldn’t be a coincidence that only politicians’ friends, relatives and associates were allotted coal blocks and asked the government to explain why it couldn’t implement a 2004 policy of bidding. “You (the Centre) may have a well-laid-out policy, but is it a coincidence that all the allottees are only politicians’ family, friends and associates?” a bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and Anil R. Dave...

-The Economic Times With carbon markets at an all time low and prospects of international long-term finance dim, the Planning Commission has suggested reworking the Rs 23,000 crore National Action Plan on climate change. It has reduced the number of missions and refocused them in line with "priorities". In 2008, the government had laid out a national strategy that would address India's development concerns and the challenges that climate change would present....