-The Indian Express The BJP has 21 MPs/MLAs with cases relating to crimes against women, at 21, the ADR said. The BJP is followed by the Congress at 16, YSRCP at 7, BJD at 6 and Trinamool Congress at 5. Between 2009 and 2019, there has been an increase of 231% in the number of candidates with declared cases of crime against women contesting Lok Sabha elections. The number elected as MPs...

-The Telegraph Without simultaneous steps to raise productivity, passive acceptance of lost competitiveness has shaped India's approach India’s last-minute withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement has elicited much commentary. That it happened after exciting positive signals from senior government functionaries amidst vociferous opposition by noted lobby groups surprised all. A sizeable segment, however, backs the retreat, noting India’s current economic situation and low competitiveness to describe it as economic and...

-The Hindu Business Line “Join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but do not ignore your internal market and demand. Ninety per cent of our bad export story is domestic challenges, 10 per cent is external environment or external policy,” says Economist Surjit S Bhalla. Seventy-one-year old Bhalla has a tough task ahead — to make New Delhi’s voice louder at the international forums as he is set to take charge...

-The Hindu The government has failed to heed recommendations made by economists and bureaucrats on turnaround measures One of the visitors to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his re-election this summer was a former Secretary to the Government of India holding a high-profile constitutional office. During the conversation, the Prime Minister asked: “Arthvyavastha ka kya karna chahiye? (What should be done about the economy?)” The former bureaucrat ,...

-The Hindu Business Line The government must simplify and rationalise GST, kickstart rural consumption, revive agriculture and tackle the lack of credit for capital creation, says former PM Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an eminent economist himself, feels that the Narendra Modi-led government needs to come out of its habit of headline management and address the economic challenges which the country is facing today. “We cannot afford to deny that India is facing...