In a move likely to raise the hackles of states, the Union Ministry of Rural Development has decided that all criminal offences in the implementation of the NREGA would in future be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), whenever the state government fails to take satisfactory action. In a circular sent to all states on Thursday, the ministry said that in cases of system failures or non-criminal lapses, a...

Lashing out at the United Progressive Alliance-II for following anti-people policies and not even sparing school-going children in the general budget by levying taxes on their textbooks and stationary, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat on Thursday urged the government not to blame the poor for the food inflation. “By attributing the rise in prices to increasing consumption by the poor, the government is putting the blame for food...

Would you rather buy a necessity like kerosene or food grains at a subsidy or receive an equivalent amount of cash instead? Would you prefer that the government decides your consumption pattern rather than figuring out on your own how to spend your income? One of the “big ticket” reform items in the budget was the announcement that subsidies on kerosene, fertilizers and Liquefied Petroleum Gas and delivery through the Public...

In line with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget announcement on Monday that the government is looking at direct cash Transfers as an alternative to the current subsidy on kerosene and fertilizers and to prevent leakages, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is planning to open Aadhaar-linked bank accounts for the purpose. These can be used for other financial transactions as well. The authority is in the process of empanelling banks...

The State Assembly passes a Bill to set up a tribunal to recover compensation from Coca-Cola's bottling unit in Plachimada. THE road ahead seems to be a difficult one for the Bill passed recently by the Kerala Assembly for the establishment of a special tribunal to “make the polluter pay” and recover compensation for the people affected by the activities of Coca-Cola's controversial bottling unit at Plachimada in Palakkad district....