-The Hindu India is the only large country that is experiencing an economic divergence among its States. “Real freedom lies in economic freedom,” said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in her Independence Day speech this year. The subtle reference here was to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which her party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, did not endorse, the only political party to do so in Parliament, on...

-PTI WASHINGTON: The Indian administrative service, which is hamstrung by political interference and outdated personnel procedures, need urgent reform or risk institutional decline, according to a top US-based thinktank. "Unfortunately, the IAS is hamstrung by political interference, outdated personnel procedures, and a mixed record on policy implementation, and it is in need of urgent reform," the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in its report on 'The Indian Administration Service Meets Big...

-The Indian Express Farmers can install solar panels on their fields that can generate income in addition to regular crop agriculture. Of its several new initiatives, the Narendra Modi government has set out at least two very ambitious targets, which are also quantifiable. One is achieving 100 giga-watts (GW) of solar power generation capacity by the year 2022. The other is doubling farmers’ income — presumably in real terms — also by 2022,...

-The Indian Express In the industrial areas of the National Capital Region, life is tied to the assembly line. But even if rarely, workers clear a space for that which seems impossible: thought and contemplation, and even the artistic life. When the whir of engines and the clang of metal against obstinate metal die down, when the neon lights go down in hundreds of sooty factory buildings in Haiderpur, Ashish Kumar opens...

-The Hindu Court says the practice is a disgrace for the Capital; ‘more shocking that a post-graduate is engaged in the odd job’ The Delhi High Court was left “shocked and disquieted” on Wednesday when a report furnished by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) showed that thousands of people, including a post-graduate, were working as manual scavengers in the national Capital. Factual position The factual position revealed before a Bench headed by...