-Down to Earth   As India elects new government, the 12th Five Year Plan may no longer be pro-poor MUCH hope is pinned on the 12th Five Year Plan that was declared as the first health Plan by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, while drafting the Plan, also termed it "pro-poor" and promised the maximum budget for social welfare schemes. But as the Plan comes into force this...

-The Hindustan Times   The all-powerful Planning Commission may shrink, made more accountable, and forced to think long-term under the new government. Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is likely to dilute its over-arching financial powers and convert it into a developmental think-tank. Five Year Plans, the main mandate of the Planning Commission, may be scrapped. Instead, the panel may have to draft plans with 10-30 years on its horizon. The 12th Five Year Plan...

-The Hindu Business Line   Tells US, others there must be progress in agriculture, industrial goods and services pacts   NEW DELHI: India has said that negotiations on tightening fishery subsidies at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) pushed by the European Union, New Zealand and Chile should take place only after there is substantial progress in the areas of agriculture, industrial goods and services.   Warning against ‘cherry-picking' of issues, the Centre said that the proposal...

-The Telegraph   Officials are set to propose to the Narendra Modi government that the UPA's blockbuster rural job scheme be restricted to select districts as the decision in 2008 to extend it to all districts was not required. The officials of the rural development ministry are expected to tell the new minister that the funds allocated for the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) were not adequate for national...

-The Business Standard   Agriculture ministry wants review of clamps on holdings; rural development ministry seeks centralisation of records With Narendra Modi set to take over as prime minister in the next few days, the department of agriculture is proposing a comprehensive review of land ceiling laws as a first major reform in the sector.   Land also figures in the to-do list of the rural development ministry. It has proposed centralisation of land records...