Montek Singh says he is willing to revise poverty estimates on the basis of expert opinion Though the incidence of poverty has come down over five years from 2004-05 to 2009-10, it is a startling fact that inequality has increased, with fewer people controlling income. Union Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia admitted on Tuesday that income distribution was not at the desired level and inequality increased in both rural and...

The Supreme Court dismissed the government’s review petition in the Vodafone tax case on Tuesday, affirming its January ruling that put overseas transfers of shares outside the Indian tax net. The review petition and last week’s budget proposals seeking retrospective changes have revived the uncertainty over tax laws, according to government officials, the Planning Commission and businesses. If Parliament passes the budget in its current form, the judgement in the Vodafone case...

-PTI Nearly 14,300 trees are likely to be felled during the construction work of Delhi Metro's third phase.  The "Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has submitted a tentative proposal indicating removal of 14,298 trees for construction of following of metro lines in Phase-III," Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan said in a written reply to Lok Sabha today.  On whether the government has done any assessment about how felling of...

The Chhattisgarh government has filed a writ petition in the Delhi high court against the Central government over Jayaswal Neco Ltd’s applications for mining leases in a case that throws light on the murky world of mining in India. The state alleges that the mid-sized steel-maker forged documents in its application to get iron ore mining leases in Rowghat in Bastar district and that the Union government directed it to consider...

-The Economic Times Data released by the Planning Commission on Monday showed that poverty had significantly declined between 2004-05 and 2009-10. The catch is that this decline is based on a poverty line that is even lower than the earlier Rs 32-per-day mark that had triggered an outrage when the government submitted it to the Supreme Court.  The new estimates are based on a poverty line that averages Rs 672.8 per month...