-The Economist Growing inequality is one of the biggest social, economic and political challenges of our time. But it is not inevitable, says Zanny Minton Beddoes IN 1889, AT the height of America’s first Gilded Age, George Vanderbilt II, grandson of the original railway magnate, set out to build a country estate in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. He hired the most prominent architect of the time, toured the chateaux...

-Outlook Sonepat: A Khap Mahapanchayat held here has appealed to the Centre and Haryana government to grant 'Khaps' the status of Lok Adalats as their decisions on various issues were "unanimous." The meeting, attended by about 70 Khaps, said yesterday that they were open to government representatives taking part in such meetings and voicing their opinions in the debates. They also demanded that marriage in the same gotra should be banned and suggested...

-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....

-The Business Standard China, India's nearest economic rival has the second best score in the world Despite steady economic growth and robust social sector spending, India's score in Global Hunger Index has returned back to the 1996 level raising questions over the speed at which it has brought down the proportion of undernourished people, underweight children and child mortality. According to the findings of the Global Hunger Index 2012 by  the International...

-The Hindu ‘Child marriage is not the right way to shield girls from sexual crimes’ As the demand for lowering the age of marriage has sparked outrage, the United Nations has told India that child marriage is not the right way to shield girls from sexual crimes. In a joint letter to Union Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, four U.N. organisations have urged India to address the issue of child marriage...