-The Indian Express To suggest that demonetisation improved rural wages on the basis of rise in income of some workers is misleading. It halted the recovery of the rural economy, which had begun after the 2016 monsoon. There is now a consensus that the economy has been slowing down and is headed for a hard landing. Many who matter have spoken out and as Yashwant Sinha points out (‘I need to speak...

-The Financial Express Indian agriculture’s reliance on monsoon rainfall has reduced considerably over the last few years thanks to the increase in area irrigated, although there are still pockets — particularly in east and central India — where rains still are a decisive determinant of crop. Key grain-producing states Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have most of the cropped areas under irrigation coverage (see table). Unless...

-The Indian Express The Indian Express points to spreading employment distress in a market where fresh hiring opportunities are increasingly limited. TEXTILE to capital goods, banking to I-T, start-ups to energy, the economy’s downward spiral is leaving a trail of job losses across both old and new economy sectors. In the near absence of consolidated employment numbers, disaggregated data collated from across these sectors by The Indian Express points to spreading employment distress...

-Livemint.com For Narendra Modi, the protests involving hundreds of thousands of farmers highlight his struggle to deliver on the promises that swept him to power New Delhi: Anger over falling farm incomes has spilled onto streets across a swathe of India’s largest states as farmers struggle with food price deflation and a breakdown of the informal agriculture economy. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi—already grappling with a sharp economic slowdown and looming job cuts...

-The Indian Express The economy is on a downward spiral, is poised for a hard landing. Many in the BJP know it but do not say it out of fear I shall be failing in my national duty if I did not speak up even now against the mess the finance minister has made of the economy. I am also convinced that what I am going to say reflects the sentiments...