-The Business Standard It is not often that the government accepts the report of a committee promptly without detailed scrutiny. But an exception has been made – and with good reasons – in respect of the report of the task force on reforming the public distribution system (PDS). The committee, headed by Unique Identification Authority of India Chairman Nandan Nilekani, has made several valuable recommendations that can cure some of the...
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Moving beyond MSP
-The Business Standard The new grain pricing policy for 2012-13 rabi marketing season seems a half-hearted attempt to make farmers grow more oilseeds and pulses, which are in short supply. This is apparent from a hefty hike of Rs 650 to Rs 700 a quintal, or around 35 per cent, in the minimum support prices (MSPs) of oilseeds and pulses and a relatively modest increase of Rs 115, or 10 per...
More »Putting Growth In Its Place by Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen
It has to be but a means to development, not an end in itself Is India doing marvellously well, or is it failing terribly? Depending on whom you speak to, you could pick up either of those answers with some frequency. One story, very popular among a minority but a large enough group—of Indians who are doing very well (and among the media that cater largely to them)—runs something like...
More »Food security channels by Indira Rajaraman
Poverty lines have been in the news again. This round started when a Planning Commission affidavit to the Supreme Court placing the poverty line at Rs 26 per capita per day (rural), Rs 32 (urban), raised a furore over the use of these to set a cap on the percentage of the population covered by the food security Bill. Since then, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. The latest...
More »Black money: I-T department to probe 2,000 Indian accounts in Denmark, Finland by Pradeep Thakur
Even as the details given by France on Swiss bank accounts of Indians continue to cause ripples back home, Denmark and Finland have passed information about another 2,000 bank accounts to India, prompting the I-T department to launch an investigation. Sources said the I-T department's Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) has been asked to probe these accounts. This is the third instance when foreign countries have shared details with Delhi about Indian...
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