-Press release by Working Peoples' Charter dated 21st September, 2020 Amidst the micro and macro-economic crisis of the last 5 years, the union government has aggressively pushed the agenda of labour law reforms -- purportedly to simplify India’s ‘complex’ labour legislations, improve the business environment, and augment growth and employment. These changes, driven primarily by the business fraternity, have been aimed at improving India’s ranking in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’...

-The Telegraph Modi govt formally confirms that India took two loans totalling Rs 9,202 crore from a Beijing-based multilateral development bank in the thick of the border standoff June 15: Chinese troops kill 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley. June 19: India signs a loan agreement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for $750 million (Rs 5,521 crore) to support measures undertaken under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). China...

-The Hindu Business Line Fiscal policy in India has been very timid amidst harsh, inefficient (in terms of public health outcomes) lockdown spells. Unless this changes, the economy may dive further As India faces the biggest economic crisis since Independence, it is being led by a central government in denial about the severity of the impact on lives and livelihoods, and spreading false hopes about the immediate future. The Monthly Economic Report of...

Often exports made by a country to the rest of the world are seen in a positive light by us. It is because exports not only earn precious foreign currencies (that can be used for importing goods and services or simply be used for building forex reserves), it also helps in generating effective demand for goods and services produced in that country and hence, contributes to economic or GDP growth....

-International Institute for Environment and Development, July 2020 The working paper entitled 'Deepening knowledge of MGNREGS’ contribution to climate resilience: A study of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh' strengthens the robust evidence base behind the climate resilience contribution of Social Protection, by investigating India’s largest Social Protection programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Guaranteeing 100 days’ paid wage labour to rural households that demand it and another 50...