-IndiaSpend.com Garhwa district, Jharkhand: Bhagiya Birjia is in a fix. Each month, the 42-year-old farm labourer gets 35 kg food grains under Antyodaya Anna Yojana--a scheme meant to provide food security for the poorest Indians--on account of being a member of the Birjia tribe, designated a ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group’ (PVTG). But she is forced to share the grains with seven members of her brother’s family, who live a short walk away...

-The Hindu Business Line Apart from easing labour laws and providing a social security net, a focus on clusters with access to land and capital will help Getting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), who employ 92 per cent of the workforce, to grow more rapidly should be one of the pillars of any strategy for job creation. This year’s Economic Survey does candidly state that “Our policies must, therefore, focus on...

  Air quality in North India in general and Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) in particular plunged to its lowest point in recent years during October-November thanks to a variety of factors. Through media reports one comes to know that stubble burning (also called paddy straw burning/ crop residue burning) is chiefly responsible for the public health crisis in India's capital and its nearby regions. Data accessed from the website...

-The Telegraph A low tax regime is not enough; investors need to see demonstrable action to ease the pangs of doing business in India A wave of euphoria has swept through industry and stock markets since the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced a sharp cut in corporate tax to an effective rate of 25.17 per cent. The effective tax rate will now go down sharply from a high of 34.94 per cent,...

-The Hindu Business Line The government must simplify and rationalise GST, kickstart rural consumption, revive agriculture and tackle the lack of credit for capital creation, says former PM Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an eminent economist himself, feels that the Narendra Modi-led government needs to come out of its habit of headline management and address the economic challenges which the country is facing today. “We cannot afford to deny that India is facing...