-The Hindu If big money entirely funds elections in a SECretive way, democracy as we know it will not exist The recent disclosures that the Election Commission (EC) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had expressed reservations about the Electoral Bonds scheme highlight the importance of this issue. In 2017, the then RBI Governor wrote to the then Finance Minister that “allowing any entity other than the central bank to issue...

-The Hindu Surveys, including the recently leaked one on consumer expenditure, point to the economy’s dire state How fast has India grown lately? And, what are the yardsticks on which the country’s performance is being measured? These have remained contentious questions. Following the last decade’s boom, the economy was slowing after 2011-2012, but apparently turned around under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime. Until very recently, the government claimed the economic success...

-The Indian Express PS Krishnan was a rare bureaucrat who sought to reform government for marginalised PS Krishnan, who left us on November 10, was an extraordinary combination of the bureaucrat-reformer-activist. His was a life driven by single-minded devotion to the cause of the deprived and exploited. From his student days in his native Kerala and later, as a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the Andhra Pradesh cadre —...

-Livemint.com * At a time when rural incomes are sliding, the only existing safety net for the farmer is failing * High costs of reinsurance due to erratic weather, a spike in claims, political interference in crop loss estimation are reasons that forced some insurers to leave the business NEW DELHI: Santosh Kumar’s first brush with insurance left a bitter aftertaste. A farmer’s son, 26-year-old Kumar from Bihar’s Araria district felt betrayed when...

-IANS * As many as 807 complaints of corruption in the public distribution system (PDS) were received across the country till October 31, 2019   * Delhi ranks third in corruption cases in PDS with 78 complaints been received NEW DELHI: As many as 807 complaints of corruption in the public distribution system (PDS) were received across the country till October 31, 2019Z, of which Uttar Pradesh reported maximum number of complaints, Union Minister...