-Livemint.com * We must widen its coverage to feed the needy instead of letting subsidy reductions get the better of it * Subsidy reduction is a key aim of Niti Aayog’s proposal to reduce food-security coverage, but our subsidy level is not as high as it looks and the move could thwart efforts to achieve nutrition goals A recent discussion paper by the Niti Aayog has suggested a reduction in the coverage of...

-The Telegraph They have completed the 'ease of doing business' reforms stipulated by the department of expenditure Twenty states have completed the “ease of doing business” reforms stipulated by the department of expenditure, which would enable them to get an additional borrowing permission of Rs 39,521 crore through open market borrowings, the finance ministry said on Saturday. “States completing ease of doing business reforms are eligible for additional borrowing of 0.25 per cent...

-PTI/ The Hindu With this, 20 States are now eligible for an additional borrowing of 0.25% of Gross State Domestic Product. As many as 20 States have successfully completed ease of doing business reforms, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday. States completing the reforms are eligible for additional borrowing of 0.25% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). “The number of States that have successfully completed the 'Ease of Doing Business' reforms has reached to...

Quite often it is argued by mainstream economists that a sizeable chunk of the Union Budget every year is wasted because the Government spends that on food and fertiliser subsidies. The burgeoning size of these two subsidies relative to the entire budget as well as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is often used to build the argument that economic as well as environmental sustainability of the country is at stake...

-Livemint.com * Disaggregated data contradicts the rosy picture that national accounts paint of our performance * It’s premature to conclude that a recovery is underway, as our GDP rise in 2020-21’s third quarter was on a very low base. Also, other data sets reveal that distress remains widespread.  Estimates of growth in the third quarter of 2020-21 along with advance estimates of the full year were released last month by India’s statistics ministry....