Bill will help few
The Women's Reservation Bill is expected by its proponents to do great things for women in Indian society, although it has already floundered on demands of sub-reservations for backward caste and minority women. Since the bill itself assumes that reservation is a good thing, it is difficult not to concede the logic of these demands. The irony is that even if the bill becomes law, it is unlikely that it will fulfill the lofty aims for which it is intended.

Refurbish plants
The ministries of finance and power have decided to withdraw the counter- guarantee cover for monthly payments by the state electricity boards. Income tax on the plant-load factor (PLF) above the norm specified for assured returns will not be allowed to be built-in into the tariff and the norms for heat rate (the calorific consumption of fuel) have been tightened.

Bringing the poor under banks' ambit
The Gupta committee recommendations endeavour towards financial deepening of rural areas. One cannot contest the intentions. Rural India is not one homogeneous mass: one third of it is irrigated and the other two third is not irrigated. Whereas technology has generally percolated down the scale in the former, improvement in dry-land agriculture has not made sufficient dent even in large farms. There is a policy shift back to the irrigated.

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