-TheWire.in The Rs 6,000 announced by the prime minister as universal maternity entitlements is already mandated under the National Food Security Act 2013, although the government has chosen not to implement it yet. New Delhi: In his New Year’s Eve address to nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made some bizarre claims about the nature of the economy and the use of black money. But a large chunk of his speech was focused...

-Scroll.in India’s first chief statistician, Pronab Sen, is now country director of the International Growth Centre, which seeks to build effective growth facilities through engagement between policymakers and researchers. In this interview to Scroll.in, he speaks on the 50 days of demonetisation, its failings, its severe impact on the poor, the loss of credibility of the Reserve Bank of India, the push to make India a cashless or less-cash economy, and...

-Hindustan Times Bhopal: The Centre’s demonetisation move has hit the farmers in MP’s Bundelkhand hard who were hoping for good rabi crops after facing four years of hardships owing to drought in the region. Farming is the main occupation in the region, and heavy rains this year had brought smiles on the faces of farmers. As the sowing for winter crops was almost complete in this part of the state before demonetisation was...

-The Hindu Delay in monsoon has compounded the problems of farm labourers from Bahour commune Puducherry: The double whammy of demonetisation and delay in monsoon has crippled the rural population of Puducherry as they struggle to make their ends meet. The demonetisation move has brought the construction activity across the rural areas to a standstill, throwing thousands out of jobs and without money. The construction sites in rural areas of Bahour, Villianur, Mannadipet...

-The Telegraph Ahmedabad: Tens of thousands of Bengali artisans employed in Gujarat's jewellery-making units are returning home because demonetisation has reduced sales by more than 90 per cent and left them without work and, therefore, pay. About 60,000 of the one lakh-odd Bengali artisans who work in Ahmedabad's big and small gold factories have already left. The situation is similar in Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara and small towns like Kalol and Bhuj, where...