-The Tribune While there are have been debates about the plight of farmers, hardly have we ever heard or read anything about the condition of agricultural labourers. They are the victims of economic downturn in the rural sector. THE economy of Punjab today, embroiled in various economic issues, is showing signs of crisis in the agrarian sector. We often hear and read about the woes of the farmers who are committing suicides,...

-The Hindu Business Line The best way to celebrate Ambedkar As we celebrate BR Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary, it is important to remember that his vision of economic equality for dalits is still a distant dream. He had told the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949: “We are entering an era of political equality. But economically and socially we remain a deeply unequal society. Unless we resolve this contradiction, inequality will destroy...

-The Hindu Business Line With various data sources at its disposal, the MoSPI is best suited for the task, say officials New Delhi: The task of establishing accurate benchmarks for defining ‘poverty line’ is likely to go to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation if the current thinking among the members of Niti Aayog task force on ‘Eliminating Poverty’ is anything to go by. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)...

-The Hindu The State has seen a 67.4 per cent growth in the number of establishments. Among the larger States, Uttar Pradesh has seen the highest growth in enterprises and employment generation over the past decade, outstripping the economically strong states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab, according to data from the Sixth Economic Census released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Uttar Pradesh has seen a 67.4 per cent growth...

-Business Standard Cess, surcharges come in handy New Delhi: Looking to leave its political imprint over spending in rural India, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has budgeted for a massive 31 per cent hike in its share of spending on nine big-ticket centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) in 2016-17 over last year's budgetary allocation. Last year's Budget mantra of 'cooperative federalism' has been sidestepped to favour political exigencies. To fund these schemes, which...