-The Hindu The economic outlook rests on government meeting investment targets and keeping promises made to stakeholders There were many expectations from the Union Budget 2020: that it would reverse the falling growth rate, reduce unemployment and rekindle the animal spirits needed to revive private investment. Does the Budget really hold out the promise on these counts? To answer the question, the Budget can be judged in terms of its effect...

-The Hindu Low allocations and specific policy statements point to greater privatisation and withdrawal of the state Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman began her speech by saying that the Union Budget was “woven around three prominent themes” — aspirational India, economic development for all and building a caring society. Achieving any of these would require extraordinary efforts on the social sector front starting with allocating additional resources for health, Education, nutrition, employment...

-The Indian Express The programme aims to empower women in rural India by teaching them how to use Internet in their daily lives. Google claims it has benefited over 30 million women across 20 states so far. Birbhum: THE NPR-NRC panic has had its first casualty on the ground in West Bengal with Google stopping its Internet Saathi programme in the state. This followed a series of incidents since January 10 with...

-The Hindu Investment in these areas will create demand in the short run and make the economy more competitive in the long run In recent months, the government’s macroeconomic policy has acquired a new salience in the context of reversing the current slowdown. The policy currently being pursued is intended primarily to incentivise potential investors by facilitating ease-of-doing-business and making large-scale concessions to the corporate sector. In this context, the government is...

  A recent report of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) brings forth the dichotomy between digital divide and India’s transition towards a cashless economy. The rural-urban divide in access to computer and internet is quite stark, according to the report entitled 'Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India, July 2017 to June 2018'.   The 75th round National Sample Survey (NSS) report on Education finds that...