-PTI India is a society that is poor, but is respected for its scientific temper and research, and "we should not backtrack on that," the former World Bank chief economist said. Mumbai: Amid a debate over incidents of lynching, noted economist Kaushik Basu has warned that social damages could have a long-lasting impact on the economy than some wrong policy moves, “such as demonetisation”. Delivering the 23rd Lalit Doshi memorial lecture here...

-The Hindu Parliamentary committee airs concerns over poor growth The Parliament’s Standing Committee on Commerce has questioned the country’s low manufacturing growth despite initiatives such as Make In India, Startup India and FDI reforms that are now more than two years old. The committee, led by BJP MP Bhupender Yadav, had expressed concerns about manufacturing growth averaging just 1.6% in the five years till 2015-16 and a 0.5% contraction in the sector in...

-Livemint.com Policy should focus not just on higher production but also on helping farmers manage risks Anybody who is dismissive of the wave of farmer protests across the country should first understand the difficult everyday economics of the Indian agriculturalist. Most farmers swim in a turbulent sea of risks against which they have almost no protection. The risks begin with sowing. The production in the months ahead is deeply dependent on weather conditions....

-The Indian Express In January, Arvind Panagariya had raised the first red flag on the possibility of taxpayers being harassed post-demonetisation and had reportedly written to the Prime Minister’s Office. Under Arvind Panagariya, the Niti Aayog piloted several reforms ideas in both economic and social spheres, but the sudden departure of its vice-chairman has put under the spotlight the numerous occasions when difference of opinions between the think-tank and other wings of...

-Livemint.com The Aadhaar project is a textbook example of how not to design and execute a public policy initiative in India When it was first launched in 2009, Aadhaar signalled a promise to repair the corroded plumbing of India’s leaky public delivery systems. The unique biometric identity would help reduce duplicate and ghost entries in the list of beneficiaries of government schemes, and pave the way for direct benefit transfers to them...