The announcement of an anti-Naxal tribal battalion in Gadchiroli by Maharashtra home minister is little more than a knee-jerk reaction THREE DAYS after a bus carrying 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel was blown up by Naxals in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, the state home minister announced the setting up of a new anti-Naxal tribal force — a “tribal battalion” recruited by the state reserve police force. Is this new force Maharashtra’s...

-The Indian Express India is among the lowest scoring countries on political finance regulation, according to a new report. Global Integrity Report for 2011 released on Friday, indicates that developing as well as developed countries, including the US, are equally struggling to effectively implement money-in-politics rules. Global Integrity is an international non-profit organisation which tracks governance and corruption trends in the world. The Election Commission in India has instituted measures to create enhanced transparency...

The debate over the poverty numbers in India is oddly impoverished. Judging from the vociferousness with which India’s press and English-speaking upper-middle-classes are debating the latest poverty figures, those who chide the wealthy for a lack of concern for the poor are barking up the wrong tree. And no doubt much of the breast-beating about the “absurd” poverty cutoffs and the declines in poverty (exaggerated! inadequate!) is extremely well-intentioned. Unfortunately, the...

-PTI Eminent economist Madhura Swaminathan on Tuesday said the UPA government's flagship Food Security Bill should have a universal appeal as any targeted selection would lead to complications in picking the beneficiaries in a big country like India. The Indian Statistical Institute Professor, whose research falls in the area of food security, agriculture and rural development, said: “the draft Bill, as envisaged currently, will exclude a huge segment of the population.” “Experience shows...

According to data released Monday by India’s Planning Commission, the number of people living in absolute poverty in India decreased by 12.5% between 2004-2005 and 2009-2010. India’s official poverty rate stands at 29.8%, or close to 350 million people using 2010 population figures, down from around 37.2% or 400 million previously. The announcement was based on an analysis of data gathered from roughly 100,000 households between July 2009 and June 2010,...