-DNA Dr Manmohan Singh rarely speaks his mind and when he speaks, people listen, as claimed by US president Barack Obama. But this time, a rather reserved-in-speech prime minister is at the receiving end for speaking his mind on the Right to Information (RTI) Act from various quarters. At a recent Convention of Central Information Commissioners, Singh cautioned against frivolous and vexatious use of the RTI. While the debate on the uses...

-The Times of India Robert Vadra is not a part of the 'mango people'. He is 'khas'. And, why not? He is son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, who is not only Congress president but also chairperson of the UPA coalition ruling the country. In other words, the most powerful person in India. Vadra is in the eye of the storm these days following allegations of amassing wealth by using his 'influence' to...

-The Business Standard The default approach to reform - minimalistic and confused - will lead India into crisis  It is encouraging that the Planning Commission has undertaken an innovative exercise in scenario building for the country as part of the Approach to the 12th Five-Year Plan. The results are available in a document titled “Scenarios: Shaping India’s Future”, which can be found on the Planning Commission’s website. The merit of the document...

-The Indian Express For Kejriwal and his crew, political targets are guilty until proven guilty After launching a scorched-earth campaign against Law Minister Salman Khurshid, accusing his NGO of skimming off lakhs of rupees from funds for the disabled, and demanding nothing short of his immediate resignation, arrest and incarceration, Arvind Kejriwal has abruptly called off this round. His next event, a fresh set of “exposes”, has been set for October 17. For...

-The Economist A new form of radical centrist politics is needed to tackle inequality without hurting economic growth BY THE end of the 19th century, the first age of globalisation and a spate of new inventions had transformed the world economy. But the “Gilded Age” was also a famously unequal one, with America’s robber barons and Europe’s “Downton Abbey” classes amassing huge wealth: the concept of “conspicuous consumption” dates back to 1899....