-The Indian Express The consolation this time, though, is the surplus showers during June and July. It has resulted in the cumulative rainfall for the four-month southwest monsoon season (June-September) being only 4.3 per cent below normal till August 16. New Delhi: The current month is turning out to be the driest August in eight years. The country as a whole has received 25.6 per cent less area-weighted rainfall during August 1-16...

-Scroll.in The prime minister’s Independence Day speech was more of a laundry list of achievements, with few new announcements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Tuesday was not only his shortest Independence Day address so far, it also had little by way of major announcements. Aside from a few one-liners calling for Indians to change their attitudes and for a different approach to Kashmir, Modi’s annual speech from the Red Fort...

-Scroll.in The Economic Survey stated that long term benefits of the exercise are yet to materialise. It is now over nine months since the government suddenly withdraw 86% of India’s currency in November but India’s Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian remains unsure if this note ban or demonetisation actually helped any sector of the Indian economy, the latest volume of Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Friday suggests. The Chief Economic Advisor...

-PTI The government has formed a committee in its bid to make drugs more affordable in the country, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. “Government has constituted a committee of joint secretaries for ensuring enhanced affordability, availability and accessibility of drugs for the citizens,” Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh L. Mandaviya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Elaborating on the terms of reference of the committee, the minister said...

-The Indian Express Three years after the Modi government assumed office, the promise of job creation is unmet. The demon of corruption is not yet slayed As the triumphal march of the Modi-Shah juggernaut continues, smashing the feckless and disorganised Opposition on its way, it is useful to ponder over at least two of the grand hoaxes of the current regime over the last three years that have been impressively successful with...