-The Times of India Former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das , who played a key role during the demonetisation drive, spoke to TOI's Sidhartha & Surojit Gupta, four months after retiring from service in May. He says he does not agree with the criticism that implementation of demonetisation had serious shortcomings. Excerpts: * What is your assessment on the state of the economy? The macroeconomic parameters, except the growth figures which are down...

-Livemint.com India’s new industrial policy is an opportunity to address the problems of low R&D spending and tough competition from cheap Chinese imports The framing of the new industrial policy should be seen as an opportunity to chart a meaningful path for industry’s role in India’s development. The recently released discussion paper by the department of industrial policy and promotion mentions two points that need to be examined closely to grasp the...

-India Today After demonetisation, GST could be another headache for the government. According to a survey conducted on completion of two months of GST, 54 per cent people complained about rising monthly household costs. In a series of online surveys, conducted by a citizen grievances portal having a tie-up with the consumer affairs department of the central government, one in every two persons has reported a rise in household costs after the...

-Frontline.in The death of nearly 60 children in Gorakhpur because of the unavailability of oxygen can be directly attributed to the larger issue of drastic reduction in budgetary allocations for and the gross neglect of the public health system. THE death of almost 60 children, including infants, in the government-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur within a span of 48 hours raises several issues relating to the state...

-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...