-Down to Earth Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic pushes government to act on reforms of food systems with urgency Food systems must be inclusive, local and diverse to address food security and malnutrition and build economic and climate resilience, according to the latest 2020 Global Nutrition Report. The report — released by the Stakeholder group — placed equity as the cornerstone of all efforts to overcome global malnutrition and insisted on policy...

-Business Standard/ Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) It is logical to believe that employment conditions in India have deteriorated quite substantially during 2019-20. Economic growth has slowed down and investments show no sign of picking up. Outlook for the economy in 2020-21, and therefore also for employment, is also getting increasingly difficult by the day. With capacity utilisation remaining very low at around 70 per cent, the prospects of an...

-Newsclick.in LIC’s bad loans bulged by 145% in the last five years to Rs 30,000 crore in September 2019. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has been struggling with rising non-performing assets (NPAs) and downgraded investment portfolio of Rs 67,387 crore, reveals the insurer’s latest public disclosure figures. The biggest public insurer has been witnessing a deteriorating health since 2014, significantly due to massive investments in cash-strapped public and private entities pushed...

-The Indian Express There is an ambiguous provision to levy income tax on “dairying”. Either the provision should be removed or it should be clarified that it does not include dairy farmers. Dairying is a part of agriculture and as per the Constitution, it is a state subject. Those in power may not yet be accepting blame for the barrage of negative news on the state of the economy, but cracks are...

-The Hindu The Budget needs to provide direction to India’s tottering economy and a boost to aggregate demand and investment The forthcoming Union Budget will determine whether India’s economic engine gets the steam needed for a rebound, or the current economic situation becomes even worse. Not just the future of the economy, the future of the country’s youth depends on the Budget. The unemployment rate at 6.1% (Financial Year 2017-2018) is the highest...