-PTI NEW DELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley today ruled out farm loan waivers by the Centre but said states can utilise their own resources in this regard. He clarified that the Centre will not adopt a selective approach by helping one state and not the others. "This issue (loan waiver) has cropped up in several states. The Centre has its policies for agriculture sector under which we provide interest subvention and other...
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SY Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner, interviewed by Vrinda Gopinath (Scroll.in)
-Scroll.in In this environment of majoritarianism, we must seriously consider proportional representation, adds SY Quraishi. SY Quraishi, who was Chief Election Commissioner from July 2011 to June 2012, is known to be outspoken about several issues regarding electoral reform both when he was in the Election Commission and after he retired. He has asked for public funding of political parties, putting an expenditure cap on them, financial transparency among parties, and...
More »Assembly elections: Richer, educated candidates fared well in the 5 states -Harry Stevens
-Hindustan Times Wealthier candidates were far more likely to win their constituency than their less wealthy competitors, according to an analysis of election data and candidate affidavits by the Hindustan Times. Across 689 constituencies in the assembly elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, the wealthiest candidate won 33.5% of the time, compared to just 24.6% for the second wealthiest candidate and 17% for the third wealthiest. The odds were heavily...
More »Punjab: High debt level, at Rs 1.25L crore, a major challenge for new government
-The Indian Express One of the key issues that any incoming government in Punjab has to immediately grapple with is high state debt estimated at Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the last year’s budget. A clutch of other key reforms such as improving land allotment process and streamlining property registration would also need the attention of the new government. Punjab has steadily accumulated the debt over the years, resulting in its...
More »UP elections: EC directs polling officers to file FIR against Dainik Jagran for conducting "exit poll" -Devesh Kumar Pandey
-The Hindu The newspaper published the “public feedback” on the first phase of Uttar Pradesh elections. The Election Commission on Monday issued orders to election officers of 15 Uttar Pradesh districts, in which the first phase of Assembly elections were held on February 11, to lodge separate criminal cases against the managing director of Resource Development International and the Chief Editor of Hindi daily Dainik Jagran on charges of conducting and publishing...
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