-The New Indian Express KOLLAM: With Kerala facing a threat of the worst-ever drought this year, the state government is planning to kick-start a massive anti-drought campaign. The state was declared drought-hit in October 2016. The gravity of drought is such that it’s the worst one to have hit the state in 115 years. As part of it, starting February 1, the chief minister, revenue minister and the chief SECretary will become the...

-The Hindu Business Line Experts concerned over low allocations for key schemes New Delhi: It’s like demonetisation didn’t happen at all, activists and economists exclaim. Budget 2017-18, coming right after the demonetisation move, had raised hopes of greater allocations for social SECtors — what with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of Sabka saath sabka vikaas. Yet, there is all-round disappointment. “It is quite extraordinary. Post demonetisation, this is when you needed substantial moves for...

-Caravan Magazine Arun Kumar is an eminent economist who has been studying the black economy in India for close to four decades. His 1999 book The Black Economy in India is among the foremost accounts of the black-money problem in the country. In Understanding the Black Economy and Black Money in India: An Enquiry into Causes, Consequences and Remedies, released in February 2017, Kumar discusses the misconceptions around black money, the...

-Livemint.com One of the key trends underlying huge concentration of wealth and incomes is the increasing return to capital versus labour Given the demonetisation undertaken by the government in November 2016, the current budget was presented at a historic moment in the Indian economy. To understand the government’s emphasis on the rural economy, we have to understand a key narrative that must influence economic policies in democratic countries. As several governments in developed...

-The Hindu The HRD Ministry official was responding to the Cabinet SECretariat’s directive in November. The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has expressed concern over the Centre’s push to link the Aadhaar number with subsidy schemes related to school education. In a recent inter-ministerial meeting, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), under the HRD Ministry, said the decision to use the Aadhaar number as an identification document for receiving benefits under...