-The Hindu   On the first anniversary of the Uttarakhand disaster, here's a look at issues plaguing the fledgling state. On June 16, it will be a year since Uttarakhand experienced its worst natural disaster. It was also a year of loss, of grief, of recovery and of resilience. While those affected continue to cope and rise, we need to look beyond the disaster in order to unravel the contradictions and challenges that...

-The Hindu   Chennai: In a fresh bid to widen access to low-cost quality food, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has ordered opening of 360 more "Amma Unavagams," the popular eateries, across Tamil Nadu. Among them 200 eateries would be set up in the Chennai Corporation limits. With this, the State would soon have 654 such canteens serving quality food at affordable rates. In expanding this welfare scheme which benefits the poor, daily wage earners,...

-The Indian Express   Contrary to conventional wisdom, the UPA lost despite an inclusive, growing economy.   Economists have been busy telling us that the economy decided the election result. We heard it during the campaign and they have been at it again in their post-mortems. They are wrong. Consider some evidence.   Most Indians live in rural areas. Elections are won and lost there. So for any government, it makes good electoral sense to look...

-Live Mint   The Musahar communities of eastern UP and Bihar have been unable to escape the trap of desperate poverty India has been conspicuously less successful than many other emerging economies in the scale, speed and depth of its reversal of poverty. But many scholars say that whatever one's measures of poverty, young people on an average have better educational and economic prospects today than those of their parents and grandparents. They...

-The Hindu   While migrant labourers see price rise as their primary concern, they still rate caste and religion as determining factors in their voting decision After the rural poor, farmers and the urban middle class, political parties are now seeking to make a vote bank out of migrant manufacturing labourers. The Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto promises the concept of "Industry Family" between workers and factory owners, but does not elaborate on...