-The Hindustan Times If you've somehow managed to wrench yourself away from witnessing the ever plunging new lows during the ongoing election campaigns, including name calling, mud (and ink) slinging and repeated exchanges of the same accusations between political rivals, you will surely have noticed the exuberance in the markets - the Sensex has touched a record high and the long-languishing rupee has strengthened to within striking distance of sub-Rs 60...

-The Business Standard The dominant theme in the pre-election discourse is that misrule by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in its second term has led to sharply lower growth of gross domestic product (GDP), which Narendra Modi will reverse, the way he has made Gujarat shine. But the evidence on hand does not support this correlation between the quality of national political leadership and growth performance. If anything, there is...

-The Hindustan Times Rubina appears much older than the 40 years she admits to. She does not look you in the eye; she is hardly audible, and often trembles. Her hut, on the outskirts of Guhana village in Haryana's Mewat district, is surrounded by garbage heaps and excreta. There is no water or electricity and the hut is filled with acrid smoke from the cooking fire. "This is how our stories...

-DNA Elections 2014 are around the corner. And when elections draw nearer, the Government suddenly wakes up and thinks of its duties towards the people. This year is no exception. Whether it is the one-rank-one-pension for the retired defence personnel or the legal monthly entitlement of 5kg of wheat/rice/millet for poor households under the national Food Security Act or the announcement of a 7th Pay Commission along with a DA instalment...

-The Hindu Business Line The focus of land reforms should change from ceilings to minimum size A significant 72 per cent of farmers ‘like' farming as a profession, according to a recent nationwide survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). This is greater than the 60 per cent figure reported in an official 2003 National Sample Survey round. True, the two surveys may not be entirely comparable...