-The Hindu Rs. 35,399.40 crore spent from ₹78,521.24 crore collected, Minister tells Lok Sabha in written reply Over half the amount collected in the form of a cess on construction projects to fund welfare schemes for workers has not been utilised so far, the Labour and Employment Ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The cess, collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996, is supposed to be used...

-Hindustan Times By prioritizing long-term growth via a capital spending push, the budget has underplayed the need for urgent steps to boost short-term consumption demand. Immediate analyses of the Union Budget are always focused on the headline numbers which the document contains. While these numbers are important , it is essential to take a big picture view of the economy to examine the validity of the budget’s larger premise. Such an exercise...

-The Hindu Economic hardship, chronic unemployment and farm distress appear to be at the centre of public discussion The Uttar Pradesh elections of 2022 are the most important Assembly elections in living memory. The poll outcome in India’s weightiest State will be a crucial metric of public sentiment ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Uttar Pradesh invites attention not merely because of its size but right now because of its centrality...

-The Hindu The government seems to have prioritised meeting its fiscal deficit targets rather than using this opportunity to signal a path of employment-centred and inclusive growth India continues to rank poorly in various global indices that reflect the quality of life, human capital or human development in the country, such as the Human Development Index (rank 131 out of 189 countries) and the Global Hunger Index (rank 101 out of 116...

-The Hindu Smriti Irani warns against condemning every man as a rapist; clarify stand on criminalising marital rape, say Left parties. The government has started the process of comprehensive amendments to criminal laws, Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani told Parliament on Wednesday in response to a question on marital rape, but warned against condemning every man as a rapist and every marriage as a violent one. "The Government of India...