-The Asian Age Sonia Gandhi’s economic and political ideology may have apparently triumphed over that of Manmohan Singh. The neo-liberal finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram may be conveying an impression that he’s turned socialist with a vengeance by increasing taxes on the rich in the run-up to the 16th general elections. But the truth is that Mr Chidambaram has made certain assumptions about subsidies, inflation and the expected growth of gross domestic product...

-Outlook Aam Aadmi Party today alleged that the Budget presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram was a "clever attempt to mislead" public ahead of elections as it offered little remedy for the key problems facing the Indian economy. In a statement, the party claimed that the common man has reasons to feel "disappointed, if not cheated" with the Budget. "The Union Budget presented by the Finance Minister is a clever attempt to mislead...

-The Hindustan Times In 2009, when India faced its worst drought in three decades, the country managed to produce a million more tonne of foodgrains than it did in 2007, a normal year. That's both an achievement and a failure. It's not enough to grow more food - as India has been able to do - but to distribute it well, which the country hasn't accomplished. The UPA's flagship food security bill...

-First Post With 10 state assembly elections this year and the general election in the next, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) faces possibly its sternest challenge since it returned to power in 2009. It goes without saying that the forthcoming electoral tests have been compounded by the perceptibly declining political standing of the ruling alliance caused by multiple scams and economic stagnation. In addition, defeats in a series of elections ranging...

-The Business Standard Implement it with watershed development schemes to alleviate poverty The United Progressive Alliance government appears to be upbeat regarding the prospects of its flagship scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which provides a universal, self-targeting guarantee of 100 days of employment to every household in all rural districts of India. “MGNREGA has tremendous potential to increase agricultural production, which we have not been able to...