-The Indian Express Far from reducing opacity in how politics is financed, this new vehicle merely legitimizes it. It is an open secret that political finance in India is, to put it mildly, a sordid affair. When it comes to political contributions, opacity reigns. The situation is not much better when it comes to expenditure, as candidates regularly declare laughably small amounts of campaign spending in order to give the appearance...

-The Hindu Business Line Who would know better than Shaktikanta Das, the former secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, the ‘Good, Bad, and Ugly’ side of demonetisation and GST, the two factors that disrupted the balance sheets of not only the government and corporates but also that of the common man. Das would like to call it “positive disruption” as he believes that the turbulence caused was short-term, and that...

-Hindustan Times Herein lies the crisis of farmer politicians. They have neither aspirations nor the power of coercion working for them. Rural distress dominated discussions around the political-economy in 2017, and will likely continue to do so in 2018, much to the consternation of political incumbents. Those in opposition will be looking forward to harvesting this anger for their own benefit. One question is worth asking though. Where is the farmer-politician in...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A company that has been in operation for less than three years will be able to donate money to a political party through electoral bonds, according to the terms finalised by the Centre on Tuesday. But a party that could not secure 1 per cent of the vote in the previous election will not be eligible for the electoral bonds. This could pose a funding challenge for new...

-The Indian Express Over-inclusive, says Chidambaram, it keeps out even those convicted of non-financial crime As Rajya Sabha cleared the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Amendment Bill Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government has entered unchartered territory and would continue to modify the law. “Insolvency and bankruptcy is an area in which it is only in recent years that we have chartered into. It is a learning experience,” Jaitley said in...