-The Hindu Consortium representing them says refusal to display PM’s picture is inviting threat of blocked supplies Mumbai: Dealers operating petrol pumps have received a verbal advisory from state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) to put up pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at their retail outlets, triggering a protest. Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) have asked the dealers to arrange the display ahead...

-Livemint.com The UPA delivered the highest decadal growth (8.13% at factor cost) since India acquired independence and handed over an Indian economy on the upswing in 2014, says former finance minister P. Chidambaram New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday defended the record of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the basis of recently published back series data on gross domestic product (GDP). At a press conference today, former finance minister P. Chidambaram...

-The Indian Express Drop in Muslim representation in legislatures is related to the rise of the BJP. Muslim MPs currently occupy 19 seats of the Lok Sabha (or 3.5 per cent of its members), the lowest figure since 1952. Between 1980 and 2014, the representation of Muslim MPs in the lower house of India’s Parliament has diminished by nearly two-third even as the share of Muslims in the population rose during the...

-TheWire.in Mexican economist David Barkin on India's neoliberal economics, growing inequalities, agrarian distress and more. David Barkin is Professor of Economics at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City. He received his doctorate in economics from Yale University and was awarded the National Prize in Political Economics in 1979 for his analysis of inflation in Mexico. His research has focused on the development of an alternative to the capitalist economic model. In an...

-Hindustan Times In India, it’s difficult to find accurate estimates of campaign spending. Research also shows that illicit funds are important in funding elections in the country. Despite constant chatter about the massive (and rising) costs of election campaigns in India, there is a dearth of credible data on the actual costs, the sources of support for candidates, and the implications of campaign costs on governance between elections. However, newly available survey data...