Methodology error, intentionally manipulated data of poor quality and perilous local level political partiality is making the life of poor miserable and proved time and again that ‘any initiative for the poor tends to be a poor initiative.’ The erroneous way of assessing multi-dimensional indicators for locating the poor without making any distinction between facilities self-created by someone against facilities created through government schemes is nothing but an attempt to hide...

One man’s fiscal problem is another man’s lifeline. Trigger happy bureaucrats and economists may love shooting down subsidies because it bloats the fiscal deficit and burdens the government but the simple fact is that in a one billion strong nation, in which nearly one in every three live below the poverty line, one needs an effective and efficient method through which privileged tax payers can support the poor. Last week, finance...

-The Times of India The government on Thursday sought to play down this paper's report of March 22 which stated that the Comptroller and Auditor General had estimated in its 110-page draft report that the coal ministry's decision to award 155 coal acreages without competitive bidding had led to "undue benefits" of Rs 10.67 lakh crore to private and public firms. With the report creating a storm in Parliament, leading to adjournment...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear arguments from March 27 on framing of guidelines for media on reporting of judicial proceedings. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia took up the issue on filing of applications for framing of guidelines by senior advocate Fali S Nariman and market regulator Sebi. The proceedings emanated from alleged Leakage of advocate's proposal of Sahara...

The UPA-II has used the Budget to again play politics with hunger. But it has paid no heed to the ticking time bomb of growing social tensions as 58 million Indians living off agriculture slide deeper into poverty. The Economic Survey says more than half the population is dependent on a sector whose share in the economy is shrinking. The urban-rural income divide is therefore steadily widening, a tinder box that...