-Outlook A govt in credibility crisis wants to see the food security bill through The UPA-II government's flagship programme, the Food Security Bill, which comes with a neat price tag of Rs 1.23 lakh crore, holds the promise of eradicating hunger. If passed, the bill, it is expected, will ensure foodgrain to 67 per cent of the poor. Surely, with elections round the corner, no political party can risk opposing it....

-Frontline Corruption tends to be greater in periods when there is a state-engineered redistribution of wealth in favour of a few at the explicit or implicit expense of the many. Liberalisation is one such period. IT cannot be verified and may not be true. But, the view that the record of graft and corruption during the two-term, nine-year rule of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the worst in India's post-Independence...

A recent statistical study by Indian researchers suggest that the MNREGA program in rural Andhra Pradesh might be having a positive effect on school enrolment and grades by improving the bargaining power of women within their household, as a consequence of earning wages in the rural job security program. The study is based on data from rural households in 5 districts in Andhra Pradesh and comprised of 3006 children, comparing...

-The Hindu Kolkata: A day after the Calcutta High Court ruled in favour of the State Election Commission in a dispute over rural polls, West Bengal Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said the government would take the issue to the Supreme Court if a Division Bench upheld the single-judge's order. ‘Verdict unrealistic' Calling the verdict "unrealistic," Mr. Mukherjee told journalists on Saturday it was impossible for any government to implement the order. The High Court...

-PTI CAG report commands respect and cannot be brushed aside but it cannot be the final word on an issue, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while noting that the auditor's findings cannot be gospel truth as it is subject to scrutiny by Parliament. A bench of justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said that CAG's report is always subject to parliamentary debates and it is possible that public accounts committee (PAC)...