-The Hindu Building ‘capitalism with Indian characteristics’ means decisions cannot ignore concerns of voters and communities As the economy slows down and the rupee wilts, Manmohan Singh has bitten the ‘reforms’ bullet with both eyes on the credit rating agencies whose negative reports have done much to dampen the ‘animal spirits’ of investors, foreign and native. Last November, when the Congress party made a push to introduce foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail,...

-The Hindustan Times In the face of public outrage over a series of unpopular fiscal steps such as hike in diesel prices and cap on LPG, the government plans to come out with two feel-good initiatives — the food security bill and health cover for all. The UPA’s flagship National Food Security Bill would give 67% of the population (nearly 800 million people) a legal right to foodgrains at less than half the...

-The Times of India The finance ministry has ordered a scrutiny of the books of oil marketing companies to see if the under-recoveries stated by them are in order or not. The move was initiated at the behest of finance minister P Chidamabram, who asked his officers to look into the issue even before diesel prices were raised and a cap on subsidized cooking gas cylinders was announced last week. The exercise...

-The Business Standard Gas cylinder cap has lessons for the future  Of all the decisions that the United Progressive Alliance government took last week to end a long period of policy paralysis, the one that has caused the least provocation to opposition political parties is the annual capping of the supply of subsidised cooking gas cylinders. This is surprising, as its net effect on a householder’s annual Budget will likely be substantial....

-Economic and Political Weekly  The Government of India is considering a proposal to notify farming as an essential service. This is ostensibly to bring drought relief to farmers suffering from a weak monsoon - a laudable goal indeed. However, if farming is deemed an "essential service", farmers and farm workers could lose many of their political and civic rights because the government can then invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to...