-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The highlight of the gross domestic product (GDP) data for July-September quarter is the overall Growth Rate of 6.3 per cent, the first time pace of economic growth has increased in six quarters. It suggests that the marked slide we witnessed over the last year has finally stopped. However, a look at the disaggregated data shows that the economy is still struggling. A comparison of the...

-Frontline.in The Assembly elections have put under intense scrutiny Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model of development which is touted as worthy of replication throughout the country. Audit reports of the CAG provide ample evidence of it being inefficient, corrupt and not beneficial to the common people. THE standard indicators of development, as is understood in theory and practice, comprise a range of indices, and not necessarily the level of private investment in...

-Livemint.com The recent decline in the labour force participation rate should be a matter of deep concern for the Indian economy It has been a year since Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised the country with the demonetisation announcement. Numerous commentators had criticized the move at the time for a variety of reasons, the most prominent among these being: (a) demonetisation was the wrong instrument for the intended objective of eliminating black money...

-The Hindu We need to revisit the credit policy with a focus on the outreach of banks and financial inclusion Since Independence, one of the primary objectives of India’s agricultural policy has been to improve farmers’ access to institutional credit and reduce their dependence on informal credit. As informal sources of credit are mostly usurious, the government has improved the flow of adequate credit through the nationalisation of commercial banks, and the...

-The Hindu Business Line The dilution of government intervention in the form of minimum support prices, procurement and public distribution is undermining agricultural production in the country Farmer movements and farm loan waivers in different States have driven home the fact that the viability of agriculture is under challenge. This is surprising, since the comprehensive framework for reviving agricultural production, introduced in response to the agricultural crisis in mid-1960s, is in principle...