-Hindustan Times The NSSO report, findings of which were first published in Mint on Wednesday, found that 36% of the companies in the MCA-21 database maintained by the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) could not be traced or were wrongly classified. New Delhi: The ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) has downplayed the controversy around India’s gross domestic product (GDP) data after a National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report raised serious...

-Livemint.com The inside?story?of?the?decline?of a?globally renowned statistical system and its effect on Asia’s third largest economy New Delhi: Toothless. Powerless. Impotent. These are the adjectives used to describe India’s apex statistical organization, the National Statistical Commission (NSC). And these haven’t been hurled by its detractors but by three former members of the NSC who have been part of the commission at different points in time. The NSC shot to prominence in December last year after...

-The Hindu Residents in the pilgrim town block traffic blaming Odisha govt. for lack of food Puri (Odisha): The was visible anger on the streets of Puri on Tuesday with thousands of cyclone-affected people struggling to get food and water four days after cyclone Fani hit the district. Although the Odisha government had said that cooked food was being provided to those who took shelter in different buildings including multi-purpose cyclone shelters, community...

-The Hindu Business Line India’s Protection of Plant Varieties Act spells out rights of farmers vis-a-vis breeders, which resulted in a pushback for PepsiCo The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPVFRA), which introduced intellectual property protection in Indian agriculture, faced its biggest test in its implementation phase of nearly a decade and a half, when PepsiCo India initiated legal proceedings against four farmers in Gujarat for “illegally” growing...

-The Hindu The exclusion of migrants from the electoral process reveals the caste- and class-driven nature of mainstream politics While political commentators have been busy analysing voter preferences in the general election 2019, one segment, namely migrants, continues to be overlooked. The Election Commission of India (EC), on February 21, clarified that NRI voters cannot cast votes online, and that an NRI who holds an Indian passport can vote in his/her hometown after...