-The Telegraph The poll bonds are sold in 10-day phases, and the 17th tranche was issued earlier this month The government has sought more time to provide details on the sale of electoral bonds although RTI documents suggest the information is available. “The government seeks more time to furnish the replies,” the finance ministry said in a written reply on Tuesday to questions posed by Trinamul Congress MP Santanu Sen in the Rajya...

-Livemint.com The health crisis will boost the trend of India’s well-off opting out to create parallel infrastructure On 2 May, the total number of active covid cases in the country crossed 3.4 million. The number was at 5,80,387 on 31 March, implying a jump of around 488% in a little over a month’s time. Unlike the first wave, this time around the well-to-do middle class has also been heavily impacted by the...

-The Hindu ‘It moved from a revenue surplus to a revenue deficit State’ Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s fiscal indicators have deteriorated drastically from 2012-13 to 2018-19 and most borrowings in the recent years have gone to fund its revenue deficit, instead of capital expenditure, the 15th Finance Commission report tabled in the Parliament recently said. Tamil Nadu moved from a “revenue surplus” to a “revenue deficit” State after 2012-13, it noted. A revenue deficit...

-Hindustan Times The chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, NK Singh, spoke to Zia Haq about the final report of the Commission for 2021-26 which has now been made public. Edited excerpts. The Constitution, through Article 280 to 281, provides for finance commissions every five years as a mechanism for sharing of taxes and revenues vertically between the Centre and states; and horizontally among all states, based on levels of development, demographic...

-The Indian Express Finance Commission has taken a judicious approach in weighing competing needs of Centre and states The terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission were controversial and contentious. Several state governments had raised concerns over what they saw as attempts by the Centre to claw back the fiscal space and autonomy extended to them by the 14th Finance Commission. The concerns centred not only on the vertical (between Centre...