Best of BS Opinion: Inequality in US, a wish list for agriculture, and more

There is a yawning gap between a majoritarian political agenda and an understanding of every citizen's basic constitutional rights

A BJP politician thinks the chief of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, needs to be educated on the Citizenship Amendment Act and a lower court judge educates a public prosecutor and the police on the right of every Indian to sit in protest. Between the two is a yawning gap between a majoritarian political agenda and an understanding of every citizen’s basic constitutional rights. In the meanwhile, all of this is distracting attention from what Kumar Mangalam Birla has referred to as “slowbalisation” and the economy as the opinion pages indicate today. Kanika Datta sums up the views.

First up, the lead edit tackles the two-year extension that the market regulator has given companies to split the post of chairman and managing director. The decision defies logic and points to the lobbying power of India’s largest corporations. Among other things, this step has weakened Sebi’s reputation as a sound regulator. Read it here

The second edit explains why the latest inflation data places the onus of economic revival solely on the government and adds to the complexity of decision-making. Read it here 

A K Bhattacharya makes a case for expanding direct cash transfers to the farmer, strengthening the food procurement system and increasing investment in infrastructure as the trinity that will revive sagging agricultural income. Read it here.

In the second part of his study of inequality in the US, Parthasarathi Shome discusses how trend analysis of tax data shows that it has worsened. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“As globalisation makes way for slowbalisation, the emerging pattern of trend is more regional”

Kumar Mangalam Birla on LinkedIn