-The Hindu Business Line/ Networkideas.org While the neoliberal focus has been on attempts to “shrink the state” on the grounds of corruption and inefficiency, sensible people have long recognised that high levels of public employment tend to be associated with better quality of life for people in a society. After all, the essential public services, from Infrastructure to amenities, to security to social services, mostly have to be delivered by governments....

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee expressed concern over unabated regularisation of unauthorised colonies in Delhi by the authorities in violation of law for political gains and pleaded the court to intervene to stop it to prevent a chaotic situation in the capital. It also accused the Land and Development Office (L&DO) for encouraging encroachment of public land. Referring to media reports, the committee said the Delhi...

-Hindustan Times The retrograde amendment would amount to creating an RTI ministry under the government Fifteen years is a good time for appraisal of an institution. The Right to Information (RTI) Act, called the sunshine legislation and promulgated in 2005, certainly deserves an in-depth study and assessment for accelerating the flow of information to the public. This calls for upgrading skills, Infrastructure, processes and alacrity of response from public authorities. A decadal...

-Livemint.com * The then TDP government had invited tenders for Infrastructure development even before the World Bank loan details were finalized, said an official with the state government, requesting anonymity * According to the official, the team found numerous irregularities Hyderabad: Days after the World Bank (WB) announced backing out of Amaravati capital city project, by withdrawing its $300 million funding, officials from the Andhra Pradesh government said rampant corruption besides flouting of...

-Livemint.com * FM vows to invest widely in agriculture Infrastructure, but offers little to revive rural income and demand * In terms of new schemes, the budget announced Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for the fisheries sector and another to boost traditional industries In March 2018, Rakesh Sangwan, 27, a farmer in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri, stopped watering his tomato plants. The crop slowly withered away and, subsequently, it was mowed down by a...