-The Hindu   Development is as much a process of providing services as of removing obstacles and giving freedom from all sorts of discrimination. In what is perhaps one of India's most communal, polarising, divisive and personalised election campaigns, we are told far too often that this election is really about development. Yet, none of the political parties clearly defines development either in their speeches or in their manifestoes. So, what do they...

-The Indian Express   The southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala also figure prominently in the list. The year before the Lok Sabha elections, 2013, saw communal rioting incidents in the country jumping by nearly 25 per cent, with Uttar Pradesh, which witnessed major religious clashes in Muzaffarnagar, being the worst affected with 247 incidents compared to 118 in 2012. Data from the Union home ministry (MHA) shows that states such as UP,...

-The Hindu   If some communities have been denied the benefits of development on grounds of religion, this development is anti-secular, argues Rajeev Bhargava, political theorist Arch rivals the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party continue to trade accusations against each other of playing the communal card in the campaign to the general elections. These are classic instances of the confusion over what secularism is in India. Restoring clarity on the conceptual aspects...

-Live Mint   What explains the mystery of job growth slowing so drastically just when growth spiked up so rapidly? The health of the economy occupied the centrestage of the political battlefield this week, as the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) engaged in a spirited debate on India's economic performance. A major bone of contention was the slower pace of job growth in the UPA's 10-year...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha polls are not only under the watch of the Election Commission and financial agencies for corrupt practices, but also under the scanner of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). For the first time, the agency, under instructions from the home ministry, will collect data on poll-related offences such as liquor/money distribution, communal or hate speeches, false affidavits by politicians, poll violence, bogus voting and...