-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to accommodate representatives of most castes in his Council of Ministers but upper castes got a dominant presence, bagging 32 of the 58 berths. Ministers from Other Backward Classes, a crucial political constituency, numbered 13. Nine Brahmin leaders have found place in the Union cabinet, including Nitin Gadkari. Three Thakur leaders also made it, including Rajnath Singh, Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh...

-The Economic Times January-March quarter growth may have slumped to 6-6.3% against 6.6% expansion in the preceding one. NEW DELHI: India’s economic growth is likely to have slipped below 7% in FY19, the lowest in the past five years, because of a disappointing fourth quarter. That could prompt a further cut in interest rates by the central bank and renewed efforts by the incoming government to drum up demand and private investment,...

-Mumbai Mirror Modi, with his brilliant communication skills along with the media at his disposal, managed to convince farmers to give him a longer rope A senior farm leader had once told me in a regretful tone: “Whenever farmers are denied their rightful crop insurance, or they are harassed by banks for loan recovery, they come to us. We agitate, protest and resist the system’s bullying of farmers. But the same farmers...

-The Indian Express Because democracy demands more than the counting of votes. The excitements of the recent general elections are over and the results have been finalised. The totality of the lessons from the elections will, of course, take a long time to emerge with full clarity, but a few simple thoughts about the organisation and use of our electoral system seem immediate. From the British, India has inherited a system of...

-The Hindu Only a fast-growing economy can generate surpluses needed to create jobs and sustain social safety nets Now that the general election is over, the time has come to pay serious attention to the economy. The national income numbers continue to be controversial. No serious policy decision can be taken with ambiguous numbers. Nevertheless, even with the new official numbers it is clear that growth is slowing down. As in the...