-Economic and Political Weekly The states now have an opportunity to set their own priorities in the social sector. In the constitutional scheme of things, it is the states rather than the centre which bear the larger responsibility for social sector spending. Indeed, the states already account for as much as 80% of total outlays in the area. But central government intervention in the form of establishment of and funding for certain...

-Hindustan Times The issue of recovering the full extent of the value of our natural resources from parties to whom they are being assigned has reverberated throughout the economy ever since the Supreme Court delivered its judgements in the 2G scam (dealing with the State's earnings from selling spectrum) and on coal block allocations. In both instances, past practice and legal provisions had unwittingly handed these resources to parties at a pittance. Under...

-The Financial Express A forensic report prepared for the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) shows over a third of India's top 500 companies, including those in the top 100, are "managing" their accounts. It finds that companies where promoters hold more than 50% of total shareholding are more likely to take such steps to impress markets with their performance. Both domestic companies and subsidiaries of multinationals listed in India show similar trends...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Security and intelligence organizations continue to work under the veil of secrecy with minimal scrutiny from Parliament and judiciary. Nearly half of them have not bothered to disclose the number of RTI applications received in the last seven years. About 11 or 44% of the 25 security agencies including Intelligence Bureau, RAW, National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Aviation Research Centre among others have not reported the...

-The Telegraph Shillong: The Centre has released more than Rs 37,000 crore to all the states as the first instalment of devolution according to the 14th Finance Commission recommendations. From among the northeastern states, in the first instalment released for the financial year 2015-16, Assam will receive Rs 1,242.76 crore, Arunachal Pradesh Rs 516.48 crore, Manipur Rs 231.27 crore, Meghalaya Rs 240.75, Mizoram Rs 172.40 crore, Nagaland Rs 186.68 crore, Tripura Rs...