59% Of Us Dissatisfied With State of India

• Criminal Case. A group of activists have launched a campaign calling to bar MPs and MLAs from participating in the presidential election on July 19. Of the 4,120 members of the legislative assemblies and 776 members of Parliament who make up the electoral college for the presidential election, at least 31 per cent have criminal cases pending against them, with 641 charged with serious crimes like rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, robbery and extortion. [The Times of India]

• Gloom And Doom. A new study by the Pew Research Center reveals that 59 per cent of people in India are dissatisfied with the current state of our country, with 92 per cent blaming the government for our woes. This was more than respondents in debt-ridden Greece (87 per cent), with two out of every three respondents in India also stating that they felt it was difficult to get a better job and become wealthier than their parents. In 2011, 51 per cent of the respondents reported feeling satisfied with the way things were going, as opposed to just 38 per cent this year. [Hindustan Times]

• Going For The Gold. Just ahead of the summer Olympics in London at the end of the month, analysts at Goldman Sachs have predicted at least five medals for India, with just two possible golds. The report, which studied the correlation between economic growth and performance at the Olympics, has predicted the highest medal tally for the US (108 medals) with China (98 medals) and Russia (74 medals) in second and third spot. [The Times of India]