-Live Mint Step is another sign of government intent to move towards direct transfer for all programmes The Union cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal that will eventually lead to the direct transfer of cash subsidies to farmers for fertilizer, two weeks after it put in place the architecture to enable such a transition. The step is another sign of the government’s intent to move towards a regime of direct transfer of cash...

-The Business Standard Flawed govt policy is forcing car makers to shift to SUVs Over the next few months, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Ford, General Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra will launch new sports utility vehicles (SUVs). That’s because the market for SUVs is booming. Sales have grown 57 per cent in the first five months of this financial year (to 207,000 units), while passenger car and van sales have fallen...

-The Hindustan Times The transformation from street corner protester to elected representative is never an easy one. In the case of some politicians, they never quite get over their penchant for tub-thumping, as we can see to some extent in Mamata Banerjee. Reading Arvind Kejriwal’s vision document and listening to his utterances, it would be no exaggeration to say that the transformation is going to be very difficult for him. Wearing...

-Economic and Political weekly Drawing on the research on basic education in West Bengal, this essay argues the case for a much criticised public education system, which needs to be reconsidered as regards its potential as a provider of quality education, even while addressing its many failings. The essay follows an approach, both critical and constructive, that underlines the collective onus of the public in realising the value of the public...

-The Economic Times Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken charge of the UPA's initiatives to directly transfer welfare benefits and subsidies into individual beneficiaries' bank accounts - a system that would plug the rampant leakages of funds earmarked for the poor via schemes such as NREGA on which the government spends over 3,00,000 crore annually. A new ministerial co-ordination committee under the PM would now fast-track the architecture for cash transfers while...