-Down to Earth Although farmers vote at least as much, if not more than industrial workers or urban middle classes, elections are not fought around farmers' issues Elections are about numbers. Democratic politics is about stitching together a majority. So, the larger a group, the bigger is its “vote bank”, and greater is its electoral clout. A social group that constitutes a majority can therefore dictate its terms in an electoral democracy....

-Hindustan Times The resolution moved by councillors Raj Dutt and seconded by Nandini Sharma said food items displayed in open posed a danger of “contamination” and “hurt the sentiments of vegetarian public” New Delhi: If the civic body has its way, non-vegetarian food displayed in the open on stalls outside restaurants and eateries of South Delhi would soon be prohibited for ‘hygiene’ and ‘sentimental’ reasons. The resolution approved in the last house...

-Scroll.in It takes an average of eight years to investigate complaints of corruption against central government officials. When the Bharatiya Janata Party ascended to power at the Centre in 2014, it was helped enormously by a wave of anti-corruption sentiment that has swept India. In the run-up to the election, prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi promised to prosecute all corrupt officials and politicians – including those from his own party. During...

-Livemint.com Jean Drèze’s new book of essays defends action-oriented research, especially in the field of development economics Designing government policy to eradicate corruption is not easy. As the “demonetization” exercise demonstrated, such earnest endeavours can have big and unintended consequences and they often might not proceed according to plan. Although not concerning itself with demonetization, a new book by economist Jean Drèze delves into the challenges of making public policy for India....

-Scroll.in The Insolvency and Banking Code was brought in as a law in May 2016 to resolve cases of unpaid debts by companies. It allows creditors to initiate insolvency proceedings against defaulting companies so as to recover their money. The code was thought necessary because existing systems of dealing with insolvent companies had failed to deliver, with cases dragging on for years without result. The code sets up an Insolvency and Bankruptcy...