-PTI RBI said in the report, for the year ended June 30, 2017, that only Rs 16,050 crore of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore in old high denomination notes had not returned The RBI has said that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, returned to banks when the government demonetised high-value currency 15 months ago, are still being “processed for their arithmetical accuracy and genuineness”. This is being done in an...

-The Indian Express Nashik, Maharashtra; In state producing most onions, 60% grown here Nashik: As Santosh Gorade, 38, tends to his 3.5 acres of onion crop, he says he will do this for “maximum six-seven years more”. After that, the farmer from Takli Vinchur village in Nashik plans to get out of farming. “It’s too volatile and market forces are always against us,” he sighs. Under no circumstances, he adds, does he...

-The Hindu The answer lies in the fragile state of the Centre’s finances, and its control over interest, pension and subsidy expenses To any layman watching India’s annual Budget jamboree, the entire exercise must seem very puzzling. After the Finance Minister has read out a long list of giveaways to farmers, small businesses, low-income earners and senior citizens in his speech, none of the beneficiaries seems entirely happy with their gifts. Commentators, after...

-The Hindu Neither the Budget nor the National Health Policy 2017 shows a clear health sector road map The National Health Protection Scheme announced in this year’s Budget has generated a lot of debate. The government has committed itself to “providing coverage up to ?5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation” for 10 crore poor families, with approximately 50 crore people as beneficiaries. As only ?2,000 crore...

-The Indian Express To ensure traders in Madhya Pradesh are not able to manipulate markets too much, the state has taken prices prevalent in two other states as well to calculate a reference price. The Centre is yet to work out the modalities of its MSP-based deficiency payments scheme, but if Madhya Pradesh’s just-concluded Bhaavantar Bhugtaan Yojana (BBY) is anything to go by, the scheme will be a costly one. Market arrivals of...