-The Indian Express In its first two years, the Narendra Modi government cleared over 2,000 projects involving Investment worth Rs 10 lakh crore. Don’t delay project clearances by repeatedly asking for different studies. That was Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave’s message to non-official expert members of the ministry’s appraisal committees. He urged them to work hard to clear the bulk of pending processes over the next three months. Around 40 expert members...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A nationwide network of farmers today dubbed the demonetisation exercise "the most hurtful scheme since independence" and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledges for the agriculture sector announced on December 31 were "a rehash of what already exists". The network of farmers' associations and representatives from across the country said in a letter sent to the Prime Minister that the demonetisation move had shown a "dismaying disregard"...

-The Indian Express It distracts our attention from vital questions of institutional health and economic governance. During the second half of UPA 2, the press, with some justification, created a frenzy of anxiety over India’s future, especially its economic future. After two and a half years of the Narendra Modi government, if the same standards of concern about India’s future were brought to bear on the present government, what would the heightened...

-The Hindu The unorganised manufacturing sector should be reoriented towards non-household units to provide efficiency gains. Ever since E.F. Schumacher, a British economist, published in 1973 his book Small is Beautiful, implying that small units are better in terms of performance indicators and labour absorption, several studies have endorsed the same idea and argued in favour of promoting small units. Stretching the argument a little further, it may be emphasised that small...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government and RBI on Monday unveiled fresh restrictions on deposit of old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, saying anyone depositing above Rs 5,000 will be questioned "on record, in the presence of at least two officials of the bank, as to why this could not be deposited earlier" and only after a "satisfactory explanation" will the money be deposited. This flies in the face...