
Narendra Modi's vision for a $5 trillion economy will see the poor play as big a role as the rich
In Modi’s new India, the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid will have as much role in the ambitious march to a $5 trillion economy as the top.

Why Rahul Gandhi’s Rs 72,000 per annum minimum income promise is a blunder in the making
Minimum income guarantee promise will most likely shift attention from the more serious unemployment problem.

Gujarat power bill waiver beginning of downward spiral towards bankruptcy; India needs to curb frenzy of freebies
Gujarat's move to announce a power bill waiver of Rs 650 crore shows that it doesn't matter if it's the taxpayers who will suffer the burden. The actual tax-paying public is too small to matter when the general elections are around the corner.

Freebies have made people lazy, PDS rice should be restricted to BPL families alone: Madras High Court
The Madras High Court said that successive governments had extended PDS benefits to all sections of people for political benefits

Karnataka polls: Congress manifesto a potpourri of time-tested freebies, copies jumlas that helped Modi win 2014
The Congress manifesto, released by party president Rahul Gandhi in Mangaluru, promises to create one crore jobs in Karnataka in the next five years and to give away free cell phones to college-going students in the 18-23 age group

Makkal Needhi Maiam does not believe in total prohibition and freebies, says Kamal Haasan
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan said his party, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), does not believe in the implementation of total prohibition and the concept of freebies.

Gujarat Assembly polls: Since HP election date announcement, Rupani govt and Centre have been churning out sops after sops
Several reports in the past ten days have claimed that in the meantime the BJP-led Centre and the Gujarat government have showered the state with slew of sops to "appease" many communities ahead of the announcement of the election dates were announced.

Paytm Mall sales seen $4 bn by year-end, half-a-billion during festival season, says COO Amit Sinha
Approach taken by e-commerce platforms has not tapped into millions of shopkeepers and retailers across the breadth and length of the country, feels Paytm Mall COO

GST impact: This festive season discounts, freebies, buy-one-get-one free schemes unlikely to come your way
With launch of GST, not just fashion retailers, even makers of packaged food products are also doing away with discounts

Kashmir unrest: Handing out freebies to 'secessionist leaders' only damages the government's image
Only a headless chicken would reinstate the strategy of handing out incentives as state policy to secessionist leaders in Kashmir. For one thing, it presumes that these "leaders" are in charge of what is unfolding in Kashmir. They are not.

Goa Election 2017: Rejecting handouts, activists give political parties their own grassroots manifesto
Responding to sops in various manifestos, Sabina Martins, convenor of the Goa Bachao Abhiyan, observed that 'politics has become a business'

Jayalalithaa and freebies: How social welfare turned into a culture in TN and beyond
While Jayalalithaa, by no means, came up with the concept of freebies, she definitely made it her own

Karunanidhi to hold public meet on 93rd birthday: The last roar of an aged lion?
In his 94th year, the grand old man of Tamil politics, M Karunanidhi, faces criticism from all quarters but continues to strive for relevance

Freebies in Tamil Nadu: A unique way for netas to fulfil moral obligations
In the run up to the 2006 Assembly elections, culture of freebies touched a new high when the DMK announced free colour televisions.

Tamil Nadu Elections 2016: Why Jayalalithaa’s freebies are not so bad
In a political environment where votes can be purchased through freebies, a system that allows for proper accounting is better than a system that blurs accounting and accountability.

Freebies belong in the past: Leaders should focus on honest governance instead of buying votes
The post-poll freebies, which are the promises made in the election manifestos, are the second level of lure, as has been the case in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu polls: AIADMK copied our manifesto, claims Karunanidhi
DMK President Karunanidhi alleged that AIADMK's poll manifesto was a "copied" one, and that freebies offered was an attempt at "fooling" people

Jayalalithaa defends shower of freebies in AIADMK manifesto, says party is 'pro-poor'
Defending her promises of freebies in the AIADMK manifesto, party supremo Jayalalithaa said such schemes are intended to "uplift" the disadvantaged.

TN polls: The states debt burden will increase once manifesto implemented, says Ramados
Tamil Nadu'a debt burden increase if freebies as announced in its manifesto by the political parties, PMK founder leader Dr S Ramados said on Sunday.