Earlier this year, the Indian government’s High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC) put forward its recommendations on how Mumbai could be made into an International Financial Center. The HPEC’s report covers a very wide range of issues, including urban infrastructure and financial...

This paper discusses the stylised problems relating to water and irrigation in India and argues tht most of the inefficeincies, misuse and environmental damage have their roots in the mispricing of water and electricity. Since the only kind of subsidies thus far used are price based input...

There has been a perception that since the introduction of what have derisively been called “neo-liberal†reforms, the social sectors i.e. those dealing with education and health, have suffered. Is this really so? Computations are based on Plan outlay of the Centre, states and union...

Government healthcare expenditures have been growing much more rapidly than GDP in OECD countries. For example, between 1970 and 2002 these expenditures grew 2.3 times faster than GDP in the U.S., 2.0 times faster than GDP in Germany, and 1.4 times faster than GDP in Japan. How much of...

How has the political leadership in Karnataka contributed to the state's economic developmet? In order to assess the role that the political leadership has played, the author examines the role of the chief ministers in influencing the pace and quality of development of a state. The paper looks...

Recognising that the construction of large dams has also led to incalculable loss, destruction, and damage of cultural resources ranging from shrines of local communities to world heritage monuments, the objective of this report is to provide an overview of past and present cultural heritage...

Violence against women is a universal phenomenon cutting across age, culture, caste, religion, and socio-economic status. It occurs in various forms, daily. Of these, domestic violence is almost ubiquitous and is socially and culturally accepted. It is an ongoing experience of physical,...

Women's Reservation Bill

The implications of alternative ways to model decisionmaking by families for educational policy are analysed. Many of the policy implications associated with credit constraints cannot be distinguished from the implications of models of the family that differ from the conventional Barro-Becker...

Part II of the budget presented by finance minister of Maharashtra 2008-09