-The Times of India Crest Cash transfers have been described as the world's favourite new anti-poverty device. As India gets set to implement it, TOI-Crest finds out if the politics will ever be divorced from the cash The UPA government's ambitious plan to introduce direct cash transfers (DCT) by January 1, 2013 reflects both the political desperation of a beleaguered government and the urgent need to reform India's inefficient and corrupt public...

-The Economic Times The appointment of the third education commission headed by leading sociologist Andre Beiteille to undertake a major policy review appears to be held up after the Prime Minister's Office raised concerns over including a naturalised US citizen as a member. The human resource development ministry had named Pranab Bardhan, a professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley, as a member of the commission. Bardhan is a...

-The Telegraph Private universities have mushroomed across India, growing from just 10 six years ago to 145 today in a demand-driven surge that has drawn allegations of irregularities, including franchising out courses in violation of rules. Several academics have also questioned the standard of education in most of these varsities, set up by state legislatures through enactment of laws. “Private universities are created by state legislatures so the Government of India has no...

-The Telegraph The Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council has suggested revamping the way tribal and Dalit welfare programmes are now implemented, saying these have failed to make much difference to their lives. Council member N.C. Saxena told The Telegraph that the funds allotted for Dalit and tribal welfare schemes are now mostly spent on wider projects, diluting the benefits, which accrue to all rather than specifically to Dalits and tribals. The council examined...

-DNA The gap between policy and practice and how practice with its detailed knowledge of implementation can enrich policy was discussed at the 60th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) held in New Delhi. The meeting, a first since the change in guard at the Ministry of Human Resource Development, was ‘enriching’ according to HRD minister Pallam Raju. Some proposed legislations that might become policies and a review of...