Solutions to Change

   Municipal Bonds- A case study of Cochin Municipal Corporation                                                                   By Rohith Jyotish, Intern at Centre for Public Policy Research A municipal bond is issued by a ULB to raise capital to fund its infrastructure projects. It can be issued by local government bodies that have a strong institutional and economic system. The two key reasons for using municipal bonds are greater fiscal decentralization and effective distribution of funds by the Government of India. Those who want to limit their tax liabilities will buy these bonds. If the returns on these bonds are made tax free, there will be a further incentive for both retail and institutional investors to invest in municipal bonds.  Municipal Bonds can be of two types: General Obligation ...

By D. Dhanuraj In recent times, i am getting more and more interested to know about Indian railways as I am getting more and more attracted to the potential and possibilities that Indian railway can play in developing a grid of transportation network across the country. I started getting on to the trains even for my short travels to say from one city to the immediate neighborhood city. but the recent changes in the ticketing systems kept me surprised for various reasons. Even now, I am not convinced about Tatkal quota. Is it the way the Railways think the most needy commuters get benefit of the railway network or is it the targeted marketing? Though I have booked the tickets under Tatkal seva for many times, most of the times, it was because tickets were not available in the open quota otherwise. It was not an emergency travel as it is defined or appraised under tatkal system but the reason was that there were not many trains to give me assured births. Recently...

It seems Supreme Court of India has switched to an active mode, historic judgments are delivered back to back; influential politicians, powerful top bureaucrats, most wanted celebrities and giant corporations have been on the receiving end. The institution of judiciary is trying to gain the lost reputation, and in the process ‘Supreme’ is becoming ‘Super’ Court of India. Initially when the ripples of this change were felt, an overconfident government (with many legal eagles on-board) thought that they were represented by a bunch of incompetent lawyers, and hence fresh appointments were made from reputed stables(chambers) of law, but the scene got worser. After all, little could the lawyers do, in a system of wrong priorities and mismanaged governance. The recent judgment in Vodafone Tax Case by the apex court is hailed as an epic one. So much was the celebration that corporate lawyers in television shows were feeling lucky to have been lived in these days. It is true that the judgment...