-Livemint.com The BJP government, which came to power on the promise of creating 20 million jobs per year, has not yet recognized the gravity of the situation The Central Statistical Office (CSO) has released the full-year growth estimates for 2016-17. These had been much awaited given the uncertainty over the impact of demonetization. These were on expected lines, with fourth quarter growth in gross value added (GVA) in 2016-17 declining to 5.6%...

-The Hindu Greater data availability, especially on labour markets, needed to better gauge social impact of such policies The World Bank has said the social impact of demonetisation may have been greater as the informal economy was likely to have been hit especially hard. However, the Bank said the impact of demonetisation on the informal economy was difficult to measure and greater data availability, especially on labour markets, is needed to...

-The Hindu Doctors’ objections to prescribing medicines by generic names fly in the face of a recent report on substandard drugs In a surprise move on April 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his government will soon make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe medicines by generic names. The decision was to ensure drug prices remain affordable and patients get a wider bouquet of options instead of being forced to...

-The Times of india MUMBAI: Even as the agriculture sector shows signs of recovery from the severe 2015 drought, the sugar industry is yet to get over it. The crushing season for 2016-17 has officially come to an end and it has recorded the lowest sugarcane crushing and production of sugar in the last 10 years. A total of 371.4 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane was crushed in 147 mills across the...

-The Indian Express PM Modi government’s mandatory coating policy brings down sale of fertilisers, despite record farm production Here’s an apparent contradiction: The Narendra Modi government claims that India’s foodgrain output will hit a record 271.98 million tonnes (mt) in 2016-17 — up from last year’s 251.57 mt — with production of rice, wheat, maize, pulses and even oilseeds estimated at all-time highs. Yet, fertiliser sales — considered a proxy for farm sector...