-Tehelka Policy flaw lets private players jack up prices and siphon off massive government subsidies. TO DROUGHTS and abject poverty, farmers can add another crisis: sky-rocketing fertiliser prices. The issue has prompted eight chief ministers of large states to seek the intervention of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers (MoCF) in the matter. Consider, for example, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash (MoP), two fertilisers that used to have massive demand...

-Mid Day 'Mafia' set up these establishments across the state to usurp government grants, reveals report submitted by state child rights commission; many of them were being run as hostels and coaching centre Corruption is now so rampant in every sphere in this country that it has become a child’s play for the perpetrators. MiD DAY has learnt that the Congress-led Democratic Front government is sitting on a sensational report submitted by...

-The Times of India The Planning Commission may drop reference to crony capitalism in the plan document after protests from some ministers who are of the view that any mention would be a tacit acknowledgment of the existence of the practice. Besides, it has suggested "transparent auction" of natural resources as the solution, something that the government is not willing to accept as the one-size-fits-all approach for all sectors. Apart from crony capitalism,...

-Frontline Thanks to the Bombay High Court, interventions to tackle the decades-long problem of malnutrition among children in the Melghat area of eastern Maharashtra could be better managed. The court has directed the State government to track children and mothers using a management information system (MIS). The court’s directive came on a petition filed on July 20 by an Amravati-based NGO, Khoj, regarding the abysmal conditions in the Melghat region that were...

-Outlook Seeking a SWOT analysis, the elite National Investigation Agency (NIA) is scouting for firms to monitor media reports of interest to the agency and give a feedback that could help improve its strategies. According to the Tender floated by NIA which is available on its official website, firms have been asked to submit their bids by October 4 for "daily media monitoring" for its Director General and up to the level...