The building collapse in Uttam Nagar that killed four people last week has again exposed how the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as well as the state government are mired in large-scale corruption. The major cause of the incident, in which four people were killed, was reportedly the flouting of construction norms by the builder. Officials from MCD told Tehelka on condition of anonymity that the number of illegal buildings goes...

A National Sample Survey Organisation ( NSSO) study found that nearly half of the country's farmer households are in debt. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab are the top three states recording highest percentage of farmers in debt.  Of the 89.35 million farmer households in the country, 43.42 million are unable to come out of the debt trap, the report said. AP tops the chart with 82% of farmers in debt,...

At a time when the government is willing to pump thousands of crores for the revival of national carrier Air India, the finance ministry has rejected railways' plea for a temporary loan of Rs 2,101 crore to fund its development works.  Turning down the loan request, the ministry has the asked state-run transporter, which is under acute financial stress, to meet its liabilities by raising resources.  Railways made the demand considering negative...

The 11th five-year plan promised the nation “inclusive growth”. It marked a departure from the earlier official position that the “benefits of growth” would automatically “trickle down” to the poor, and that if growth was not actually benefiting the poor, then the reason lay in its not being high enough. The 11th plan, by contrast, conceded that the “benefits of growth” did not automatically “trickle down”, but argued that growth...

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday expressed the hope that foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail would help in bringing down inflation. “...Certainly it (FDI in multi-brand retail) would help improve supply chain and we hope it should also contribute to reducing inflation,” Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao told reporters on the sidelines of a memorial lecture here. Dr. Subbarao said 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail would...