The Kerala government complains that nearly all its revenue is used to pay the salaries of government employees. Why, then, is the government busy adding new members to its recruiting agency? P N Venugopal notes the contradictions, as the government's finances slide further into the red.

45 km south of Nagapattinam, the 26 December tsunamis washed away thousands of tonnes of stock salt at the Vedaraniam salt pans, filled them with debris and black silt. With government relief coverage withdrawn and the start of the season missed, manufacturers are in despair. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

Allocations in the annual budget are the real indicators of the government's priorities. It is by studying these that we can really judge how committed the administration is to the goals proclaimed publicly. Jacob John examines Budget 2005 and finds a yawning gap between promises made and the money approved to achieve them.

At Cochin's Special Economic Zone, independence is a forgotten ideal. Here, as in other SEZs, the government has long treated native soil as territorial possessions of foreign nations, exempt from taxes, rules and safeguards that apply elsewhere. The only losers are the workers. P N Venugopal reports that now this charade is being expanded.

Does the World Bank advocate development, or is it simply a money-lender pushing its loan packages? For too long, the distinction has been blurred, allowing the Bank to make self-serving recommendations. Sudhirendar Sharma notes the latest instance of this as the Bank pushes into water sector reforms in India.

There is now mounting hope that micro finance can be a large scale poverty alleviation tool. Banks too are shedding their old reluctance to lend to the poor, and are looking to tap the expertise of micro credit groups to create a new market. Ramesh Menon reports on the status quo and the challenges ahead.

Even if activists and trade unions in India succeed in pushing up wage scales in the garment industry, manufacturers are likely to point out that with higher labour costs and hence billing, the high profit global retail buyers would shift their business to cheaper nations like Bangladesh or Indonesia. Is there a way out? Anuja Mirchandaney finds out more.

Minimum wage regulations continue to defy the very meaning of what the wage is for. The original premise - wages for people to live with minimum level of economic security, as well as dignity - is gone, its spirit lost in myriad variables that rise from states, sectors, bureaucracies and notifications. The India Together editorial.

Crores of taxpayer rupees are spent by government institutes each year on fisheries technology and research. How much does this impact the lives of the average fish hawkers who vend on foot? Is there any impact at all? M Suchitra visited one Kerala hawker, at a coastal village near Kochi.

A new report from TERI, the first of its kind for India, argues that compliance with environmental, social and governance criteria would better differentiate Indian stocks in comparison to issuers from other emerging markets for high quality investors. Rajni Bakshi has more on why India must care.

A new policy framework for hydro-electric power seems to have given confidence to private corporations to enter the sector, with a large number of mega projects lined up. But the same policies raise critical questions in relation to equity and access, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

As the heaps of pineappples grow bigger, prices will go down drastically from Rs.5 to Rs.2 and finally to 50 paise per pineapple, says Priyalal Sharma, a Tripura grower, who has also started rubber plantation in some portion of his land. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

The many arguments offered in support of Public Private Partnerships don't stand up to close examination. The private sector is not more efficient than its public counterpart, nor is cheap money accessible to it as readily, write Shripad Dharmadhikary and Gaurav Dwivedi.

There is an urgent need for reliable and transparent consumer price indices that covers the large majority of Indian families, from the poorest upwards. Kannan Kasturi reports.

A conference on September 14-16 this year at New Delhi will bring together political decision makers, representatives from entrepreneurial associations and corporate partners, and civil society to discuss growth in Asia. It is backed by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Planning Commission of India.

Many micro-credit loans do no more than allow a family to juggle its finances for a month-to-month existance. As investors embrace this 'market', MFIs are increasingly under scrutiny. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

With its recent move to let banks determine their own rates of interest paid to savings account holders, the Reserve Bank of India opens up new turf in the battle between banks for consumers.

While government and other sector actors are on the alert to address the power crisis, some find a business opportunity in it. Meanwhile, attention to rural supply continues to be low, write Sreekumar N and Shantanu Dixit.

Given our Constitutional mandate to "endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities," Shankar Jaganathan explains why reintroduction of the Inheritance Tax may be a step worthy of serious consideration.

In view of the usual thrust on packaged food distributed in the name of relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of any disaster or human crisis, L S Aravinda warns against the tendency to sell out local food traditions to the industry.

Of the abundant quantities of jackfruit grown in India annually, an estimated 70 per cent rots away, due to lack of awareness and difficulties of usage. Now, a joint initiative by an academic institute and a farmers' group seeks to change that. Shrikrishna D reports.

As the country eagerly awaits the new government’s maiden budget, Shankar Jaganathan evokes the realities of the Indian economy to provide a reference framework within which to judge the Jaitley budget.

The excitement leading up to the budget was almost feverish, but it turned out to be a staid affair in the end. Here's a round-up of some of the key provisions of Arun Jaitley’s maiden budget, presented in Parliament on 10 July.

The erstwhile UPA government’s Food Security Act, now set to be implemented by the present government, could mean unendurable strain for the country’s public distribution framework. P V Rajeev spells out better alternatives to explore.

S Venkatraman presents an interesting set of charts to capture the movement of the consumer price index and finds that the answer to this question may not be an easy one to arrive at.

The thrust on ‘smart cities’ by PM Narendra Modi has been impossible to miss since he took over the reins. Sujaya Rathi and Shrimoyee Bhattacharya look at critical considerations to be made at the pilot stage of the evolutionary journey towards such urban centres.

The ruling government has allocated 7,060 crores of rupees for development of smart cities, but do our realities allow for westernised ICT-driven smart cities? Darryl D’Monte dwells on what would really make our cities smart, based on deliberations at the second Urban Age conference.

As Bengaluru is proposed to be split up into different municipal corporations, Mathew Idiculla explains why it is important to examine how decisions regarding cities and their boundaries are taken.

Data from the recently released DLHF Survey shows disheartening figures for nutritional indicators, when compared to the last national level survey. Shambhu Ghatak delves deeper into the state’s nutrition records and also tracks where others stand.

As has been the historical trend, most of the budget announcements on agriculture this year, too, are geared towards benefitting agribusiness rather than augmenting farm income, writes Devinder Sharma.

What could the taxes, allocations and schemes in Arun Jaitley’s budget ultimately mean for the country and its people? Shankar Jaganathan takes a bird’s eye view of the government’s most anticipated annual document for the year.

PM Modi's vision of smart cities will remain unrealised till we have environmentally-smart urban centres, equipped to mitigate the severe chronic air pollution levels. But what will it entail? Sarath Guttikunda analyses.

A new food processing company in Kerala proposes to market innovative products, the success of which could well place the largely neglected jackfruit in the focus of attention of bigger players in the state’s food processing industry. Shree Padre reports.

The Southern region of India is expected to face high energy deficit this year while the Western and Eastern regions will have a surplus of energy generation. Kannan Kasturi explains why this regional skew in energy generation and energy consumption exists and what it will take to resolve it.

India and Africa both share interest in manufacturing, so how will this play out at the ongoing India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) in Delhi? And will we see a coherent strategy from the present Indian government for engaging the continent? Anoo Bhuyan looks into these questions and more.

Should we believe the promises politicians make to us this time around? Whatever it is you want the government to do about terrorism, begin by asking who will do it, and how. The India Together editorial on the Mumbai terror attacks.

Of course the military should be prepared for conflict. However, whether to engage in such conflict, and how, is a decision for the civilian leadership, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The armed services have given a long wishlist of material to be procured, but the Defence Minister is in no hurry to accommodate them. In the process, he's ruffling some feathers, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The top brass doesn't agree with the State government's plan to draw-down forces in the Kashmir valley. But should the military air its view publicly, and how does that impact policy-making, wonders Firdaus Ahmed.

The security establishment would like India to project its power more forcefully abroad. But to position this as an exercise in protecting the nation's internal unity stretches the imagination, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

India and Pakistan don't negotiate with a give-and-take approach. Instead, they hope to gain some advantage in the background while the negotiations continue. This makes the process meaningless, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The dark clouds gathered since the early nineties have not quite dissipated. Inevitably so, since the actions that should have been taken were never taken up, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Outsourcing the policy-making function is bad enough, but the government should certainly not have allowed trespass on its domain by the Naresh Chandra Task Force, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The assault at the Line of Control appears to be a well-planned ambush. It comes at a time when India and Pakistan are tentatively inching closer. It is a message not only to India but also to the Pakistani civilians keen on better relations with India, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The aggression and pace of the new government’s decisions and activities relating to national security, just as in other areas, may be due to the eagerness to prove itself different from a sloth, ineffectual predecessor. However, the image that it creates comes with its own set of risks, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The recent episode in which a mysterious boat was intercepted off the coast, and blew itself up, may or may not have anything to do with Pakistani terror, but has important implications for national security strategy, external relations and domestic political dynamics. Firdaus Ahmed explains.

A recent announcement by the army chief that officers of all ranks of the army will donate a day’s pay to the PM’s relief fund for Kashmir floods has triggered an interesting exchange, throwing light on the broader trends of politicisation within the military. Firdaus Ahmed has more.

As India takes on the role of a mature power centre in the Indian Ocean region, Firdaus Ahmed wonders if it will stick to its traditional defensive culture or if the move to a rightist polity will bring about a different doctrine altogether.

The Indian army’s evolving China strategy, leading to its preparedness for an offensive on that front, seems to have undergone a bit of dilution, as evident in North Block posturing. Is it merely a run-up to Modi’s China visit or is there more to it? Firdaus Ahmed explores.

Key army posts are currently vacant including two very sensitive posts. Firdaus Ahmed highlights the plausible reasons for this hold up by the Indian government and cautions there there could be deeper reasons for this than is being discussed in the media.