The year 2010 was a tumultuous one for micro-Finance institutions (MFIs) in India. It began with the highly successful SKS MicroFinance public issue, which prompted other prominent MFIs to announce similar plans. It ended with the tumult in Andhra Pradesh which was marked by the state’s legislation to regulate the sector, severely impairing its ability to survive. MFI recoveries are down and they, in turn, have fallen behind in their...

Two large industrial projects, one poor state, two likely different outcomes — and a long-haired, flamboyant environment minister-turned-crusader starring in both. No, this is not your latest blockbuster but it has the makings of one. As reported Monday, Posco, the South Korean steelmaker, cleared a major regulatory hurdle in its bid for a massive steel project in Orissa. An environment ministry panel gave clearance for an initial steel production capacity of...

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar, who is leaving for Delhi tomorrow, will take up with Prime Minister the issue of a special package to the farmers who have lost their corps in the recent rains. He will also meet food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and others. Reddy along with Finance minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy, revenue minister N Raghuveera Reddy, chief secretary SV Prasad and other officials, reviewed the various efforts...

The food subsidy bill for 2010-11 could shoot up by nearly Rs 25,000 crore to touch Rs 80,000 crore, putting further pressure on the government’s Finances, a food ministry official said on Tuesday. The government has budgeted Rs 55,578 crore for the current fiscal. The sharp increase in the subsidy is because of higher minimum support price ( MSP )) for crops and the government holding food stock that are nearly three times...

A notification expected on January 1 to hike wages of workers under the national job guarantee scheme — to counter inflation — is stuck because of pressure from National Advisory Council activists who want this hike to be linked to the Minimum Wages Act. The Rural Development Ministry was slated to notify revised NREGS wages indexing it to the Consumer Price Index for agricultural labourers (CPI-AL) with April 2009 as the...