-The Indian Express   India's rentier capitalism is an inset in the big picture drawn by Thomas Piketty   French economist Thomas Piketty has written a scholarly tome with the humdrum title, Capital in the 21st Century. The book has become an overnight sensation because Piketty documents an inherent tendency for ever-increasing inequality of income and wealth in capitalist economic systems. It is not an accident, he says, that many will be left behind...

-Live Mint   Recent Maoist violence highlights the conflicts that centre around the model of India's economic growth   New Delhi: The deaths of nine people from violence related directly to the general election-occurring in and around polling booths-are an early warning to the next government that it must start thinking about how to balance economic growth with social justice and equity, experts said.   These deaths-mostly in areas hit by Maoist violence-highlight the conflicts that...

-Live Mint     As a democracy matures, citizens become more willing to trust elected representatives to plan and take steps for the long-term growth and development One common complaint during this election has been that the election commission (EC) has to be consulted before the government and its regulatory agencies take any routine decision. Decisions relating to gas price hikes and bank licences all had to be cleared by the EC, whose over...

-The Times of India     GANDHINAGAR: Though the Modi government claims the state is in good financial health, the state exchequer's earnings seem to have fallen drastically. The state's taxmen failed to meet the Rs 45,000 crore target, falling short by a whopping Rs 4,068 crore. This has created a huge deficit and sent into a tailspin the state finance minister's tall claims about a revenue surplus budget. According to the state finance...

-The Indian Express   The UPA has done well to bring rights-based social welfare schemes to the forefront. All opinion polls suggest that the UPA has only a few weeks left in office. After 10 years as prime minister - this gives him the third position in terms of longevity as head of government after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi - what is going through Manmohan Singh's mind as he contemplates retirement from...