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A Village name Kerala sign board near Wankaner, Gujarat on November 10, 2022. | Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji Untouched by the interminable debate on Gujarat Model versus the Kerala model started by an argument between two economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen is a little village called “Kerala” in Gujarat’s Morbi district.The villagers here know nothing about Mr. Bhagwati’s analysis of Gujarat Model of development which he reckoned was superior to the contrasting Kerala model of development. One based on private entrepreneurship driven development and the other as Mr. Sen countered high social spending resulting in growth. Over…

Two India-flagged LPG carriers, Jag Vasant and Pine Gas, have transited through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday (March 23, 2026) evening. They are together carrying nearly 93,000 tonnes of LPG, as per the inter-Ministerial briefing held on Monday (March 23, 2026).Jag Vasant and Pine Gas, owned by Great Eastern Shipping and Seven Islands Shipping respectively, are likely to reach Indian ports between March 26, 2026 and March 28, 2026.In addition, a flurry of LPG import shipments that came in the past few days and scheduled for the upcoming week may have eased the cooking gas crisis somewhat. In a…

Elections in Karnataka have increasingly become bipolar, with 77% of the seats recording bipolar contests in 2018 In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, 77% of the seats witnessed bipolar contests, which meant that only two parties were effectively fighting the election in those constituencies. This marked a shift from the 2013 and 2008 elections when less than 50% of the seats witnessed a bipolar contest. Moreover, multi-cornered fights involving more than three parties have become a rarity.Table 1The table shows the percentage share of seats which witnessed uncompetitive (less than two effective parties), bipolar (two), triangular (three) and fragmented (more…

The economy has recently been yielding some discomfiting data, even before the war in West Asia began. The most recent of these was the February 2026 data on the Index of Eight Core Industries. This release showed that growth in the overall Index had dropped to a three-month low in February, half the rate of what it saw in January. This was not a case of a high base effect, either, with growth in February 2025 having been just 3.4%. The sector-wise data reveal further issues. The domestic crude oil industry has been contracting for six consecutive months. In fact,…

On September 7, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to solve the long-pending Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal issue between Punjab and Haryana, saying, “It’s the duty of the Centre to ensure water for Punjab and Haryana, not to make them fight”.In a press conference at Haryana’s Hisar, he accused BJP of dual-speak, adding, “What’s the stand of the Congress and the BJP in Punjab and Haryana? In Punjab, they say we will not let the SYL canal be constructed. In Haryana, they say we will take SYL waters at any cost. These…

Picture used for representation purpose About 55% of the funds received by regional parties in FY20 were from unknown sources, an analysis of the Association for Democratic Reforms shows. ‘Income from unknown sources’ refers to those donations that are made without the details of the donors. These include donations made through electoral bonds, sale of coupons, miscellaneous income and voluntary contributions. On the other hand, when parties provide details of the donors to the Election Commission of India, such donations are referred to as ‘income from known sources’. This constituted only 23% of the total funds received by regional parties…

DMK President MK Stalin addresses during an election campaign rally in support of his alliance candidates, ahead of Tamil Nadu assembly polls, in Tirunelveli, Saturday, March 20, 2021 The DMK and the Trinamool Congress (AITC), both winners of State elections in 2021, spent over Rs. 265 crore during their election campaigns, according to the reports submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) . Among all parties, the AIADMK spent the highest share in spreading the party’s propaganda (99.5%) and relied only on media and advertisements. The DMK and the AITC, on the other hand, split their expenses half-and-half between…

Atul Bora, AGP president and party candidate from Bokakhat constituency, filing his nomination in the presence of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma in Golaghat on Monday. | Photo Credit: PTI While an upstart born in the aftermath of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests manages to hold its own against the principal Opposition party, the one synonymous with regionalism in Assam is in terminal decline even after enjoying the perks of power for the past decade.The Raijor Dal, with party chief Akhil Gogoi its sole MLA in the outgoing Assembly and that too as an Independent contesting from jail, has managed…

Last year, it was Corbin Bosch, the South African all-rounder. This year, the list has grown longer by one, for now — Blessing Muzarabani, the towering Zimbabwean paceman who had a wonderful T20 World Cup, and Dasun Shanaka, the all-rounder who led Sri Lanka in the same tournament which concluded earlier this month.We are talking about the late shift of players from the Pakistan Super League to the Indian Premier League. It isn’t just a late shift, it’s about severing one contract at the last minute to sign a more lucrative deal to be a part of inarguably the most…

Virat Kohli. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) steps into new territory with the start of IPL 2026. Having been the nearly men for the longest period, RCB now enters the arena wearing the coveted tag of ‘defending champion.’Unsurprisingly, RCB found no good reason to tinker with the proven template which led to the title last season. The majority of the squad has been retained while there have been a couple of notable inclusions — all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and pacer Jacob Duffy — from the auction.The side boasts of a powerful batting line-up, capable of maximising…