In an attempt to prevent the misuse of funds under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the Planning Commission will seek cabinet approval for appointment of evaluation officers to ensure that the money is not misappropriated. “The Planning Commission has already received favourable comments in this regard from all concerned departments including Ministries of Finance and Panchayati Raj,” said Sudha Pillai, secretary, Planning Commission, while releasing the Associated Chambers...

It's a myth that the global financial crisis left India virtually unscathed. In fact, India is the biggest victim of financial crisis-induced poverty, according to data obtained by TOI from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs' (UNDESA). Check out these figures. The UNDESA data estimates that the number of India's poor was 33.6 million higher in 2009 than would have been the case if the growth rates...

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday trained its guns on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for demolishing hundreds of hutments in Kirti Nagar area last November while carrying out its drive to widen roads and beautify the Capital ahead of the Commonwealth Games starting on October 3 this year. “What do you (MCD) want to do? We think you want to show the foreigners coming for the Commonwealth Games...

The high prices of essential commodities are expected to decline by the end of the rabi season in the next two months, Vijay Shankar Vyas, member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, said here on Tuesday. “Food inflation would come down by March-April as we are expecting a good rabi production this year,” Dr. Vyas told journalists on the sidelines of the launch of a publication on agriculture, Millions Fed,...

Without policy efforts to deal specifically with issues such as reduced incomes and unemployment, the global economic crisis will be far from over. FOR most economic commentators, 2010 begins on an optimistic note. Just a year ago, there was much gloom about the world economy. The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression had broken out in full fury; asset markets in the United States, Europe and then most developing...