-The Hindu Business Line These bearer instruments can’t make political funding transparent; they don’t address the insidious corporate-politico nexus The Government is all set to introduce a scheme offering political bonds as bearer instruments which will conceal the identity of the bond buyers and enable a process of political donations that, it argues, will make funding political parties transparent. The argument is deeply flawed. Electoral bonds as envisaged here open up yet another...

-TheWire.in The corporate sector is responsible for 70% of the country’s NPAs, but their loans are being waived off while waiving farming loans is still being frowned upon. The Gujarat government gave a loan of Rs 456.79 crore to the Tatas to set up the Nano plant at Sanand, near Ahmedabad. The Gujarat government has acknowledged that the massive loan was given at an interest of 0.1%, to be paid back in...

-Frontline.in Recently released data from the CSO, which claimed that demonetisation had had no significant impact on the performance of the economy, raise more questions than provide answers. Official data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on the last day of February, which claimed that the national gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 7 per cent in the October-December period, the third quarter of 2016-17, came as a morale booster...

-TheWire.in Were the budget estimates for corporation and income taxes in 2016-17 a good coincidence or were they supposed to have been be qualified with a note? New Delhi: For the first time in at least ten years, the budget estimates (BE) of India’s corporate tax and income tax revenue receipts have exactly matched their corresponding revised estimates (RE) – give or take a couple of decimal points. A key part of every...

-The Hindu Arun Jaitley has steered clear of populist giveaways in the run-up to Assembly elections Some said it was a ‘make or break’ Budget, one that would use the potential gains from demonetisation to give a decisive push to economic growth. Others said it would be a populist budget aimed at the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere. It has turned out to be neither. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has presented...