-Livemint.com * Company boards dominated by directors of the same caste tend to enter deals more often, shows an IIM-B study * These companies perform slightly worse in terms of returns than those who do not enter into same-caste deals New Delhi: The caste system pervades all spheres of Indian society. Caste biases still influence many aspects of the economy but the private corporate sector is generally perceived as an oasis of meritocracy...

-The Hindu The proposal, a version of which has been previously presented to the Congress and to a foundation working with other Opposition parties, has been released in a policy paper titled ‘Strengthening towns through sustainable employment’. With rising unemployment becoming a major poll issue, and several political parties proposing solutions for it in their election manifestos, a group of labour researchers have proposed a national urban job guarantee programme for small...

-The Indian Express Indian statistical system can withstand political pressures. Legislation and public scrutiny can strengthen it further. One unfortunate fallout of the recent controversy regarding the non-publication of the labour force survey report by the National Sample Survey Organisation has been the questions raised on the autonomy and independence of the Indian official statistical system. As reported in this newspaper, the possibility of junking the survey report in favour of...

-The Hindu Business Line Organophospates, despite being banned elsewhere, have a high presence in India’s food products As parents, we are constantly striving to provide the right environment for our children. As a mother living in a metro, this writer is of the view that our kids are falling sick more often compared to the previous generation of children. Doctors are of the opinion that since our children are growing up in...

-Frontline.in Interview with R.B. Barman, former Chairperson, National Statistical Commission. R.B. Barman, former Chairperson of the National Statistical Commission (NSC), was member of the Indian Statistical Service before joining the Reserve Bank of India in 1979. He was president of the Indian Econometric Society in 2006-07, Vice Chairman, Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics, Bank for International Settlement, Basel, Switzerland, and Member, International Data Forum. He sent a paper to Prime...