-Livemint.com The river interlinking project will adversely affect land, forests, biodiversity, rivers and the livelihood of millions of people Interlinking of rivers is a very expensive proposal. It has huge adverse environmental impacts on land, forests, biodiversity, rivers and the livelihood of millions of people. It is a socially disruptive proposition. It will not only add to climate change impact (destruction of forests means destruction of carbon sinks, and reservoirs in tropical...

-PTI 'If public spending is slashed, it will mean cutting down expenditure on social SECtor scheme." There is hardly any private investment,' explained Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley provided no indication today of any cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel to cushion the spike in rates, saying that the government needs revenue to support public spending without which growth will suffer. States levy a high amount...

-The Hindu The former Attorney General about recent landmark judgments of the Supreme Court, the credibility of the court, and the sedition law Former Attorney General of India, Soli Sorabjee, was given the Padma Vibhushan 15 years back for his defence of the freedom of expression and protection of human rights. Now, at 87, Mr. Sorabjee says he is looking forward to making his arguments in a pending case on Aadhaar. Excerpts...

-Livemint.com Despite the construction SECtor being in the doldrums, personal housing was holding its own—till demonetisation Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to create 10 million jobs in five years while campaigning in the 2014 general election. After completing more than three years in office, has the government been able to deliver? We do not know for sure. Findings of a large-sample survey on employment, conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO),...

-IANS The former prime minister said both demonetisation and GST have impacted the informal SECtor, which accounts for 90% of employment. New Delhi: Both demonetisation and GST have affected India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth adversely, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday. “Both demonetisation and GST have had some impact on GDP,” Manmohan Singh, who has earlier said the Indian economy has been running on only “one engine” of public spending,...