-The Indian Express On the credibility of quarterly data releases, Anant underlined “it is a careful statistical exercise” and that in many areas, “more complete information would be available in many ways by next year”. Facing criticism that GDP growth estimates by his office of 7 per cent for the third quarter ending December 2016 sharply overshot most projections — even those in the Economic Survey and by the RBI — India’s...

-The Economic Times The enigma around the GDP growth numbers has compounded, as it understated the impact of demonetisation. Eliminating the dissonance created by large revisions, nominal GDP growth in December quarter may have been impacted by 240 bp and 320 bp on a year-on-year and sequential basis, respectively. The 7 per cent real GDP growth print for Q3FY17 released by the CSO on Tuesday gives an impression that the demonetisation shock...

-Business Standard System in place for Aadhaar-linked payment through state but shopkeepers and consumers yet to cheer Ahmedabad: When young housewife Sarojben Rabari comes to buy rice from the Public Distribution System (PDS) shop in Ramnagar, on the northern fringes here, the shopkeeper asks her to pay by using her Aadhaar card. The woman refuses – she has neither an Aadhaar card or a bank account. She wishes to pay in cash;...

-PTI “Repercussions from the currency exchange initiative will likely persist through the first quarter of 2017.” Washington: India’s demonetisation led to huge cash shortages that have “adversely affected” consumption and like a “vacuum cleaner” it sucked in cash and then was slowly replacing the currency, a senior IMF official has said. “You’ve heard about so-called ‘helicopter drops’ of money with unconventional monetary policies, so one way to characterise this demonetisation initiative is as...

-TheWire.in Tamil Nadu continues to witness cycles of flood and drought annually. Mismanagement of traditional water management systems is one of the main reasons. Tamil Nadu: That Tamil Nadu qualifies to be dubbed as a land of climate paradoxes is beyond debate. The massive flood of 2015 was quickly followed by a punishing drought in 2016. Though the state benefited marginally from the southwest monsoon, as is usually the case, the biggest...