One lives to learn — or unlearn. The working head of what passes for this country’s Planning Commission is unambiguous about it. One important measure to fight inflation, he believes, is to raise prices. That is to say, to stop prices from rising, you must first raise prices. The gentleman has heartily endorsed the recent serial increases in the prices of petroleum products since such increases will, in his view,...

-The Economic Times   A group of ministers formed to approve the draft mining Bill, has agreed to earmark 100% of the royalty paid by major mineral mining companies , to compensate people displaced by such projects. The panel, chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee , which met on Thursday , also agreed to earmark 26% of the profit made by coal mining companies, in favour of people directly affected ,...

In a sudden U-turn, the mines ministry has decided against asking miners from mandatorily sharing 26 per cent of net profits with the affected local population. Instead, it has proposed that miners set aside 26 per cent of the royalty they pay to states for sharing with locals. This dramatically changes what locals will get if the proposal becomes law. For example, for a tonne of iron ore which costs about...

Boommi Gowda used to fear the night. Her vision fogged by glaucoma, she could not see by just the dim glow of a kerosene lamp, so she avoided going outside where king cobras slithered freely and tigers carried off neighborhood dogs. But things have changed at Gowda's home in the remote southern village of Nada. A solar-powered lamp pours white light across the front of the mud-walled hut she shares with...

The man in the hot seat, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India says he’s never faced political pressure on any audit. The man in the hot seat, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Vinod Rai, says he’s never faced political pressure on any audit. On the 2G scam, he says his report clearly says the “amount of loss can be debated”. And it was the petroleum...