-Hindustan Times Many years ago, Jagdish Bhagwati, a very distinguished economist long before he became one of the patron saints of the NDA, published an important paper on what he called Directly Unproductive Activities or DUP. These bore a close relation to what his friend and well-known South Asia scholar, Anne Krueger, had called rent-seeking activities in some slightly earlier work. Both made the important point that the social cost of...

-Deccan Chronicle On August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a financial inclusion scheme that will ensure that at least one member of each and every family in India not only has a bank account with a debit card, but is also provided an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000, a life insurance policy of Rs 30,000 and accident insurance cover of Rs 1,00,000. On August...

-The Times of India   CHENNAI: When traditional methods of using chemical pesticides, fogging and releasing Gambusia fish into water bodies fail to do enough to control mosquito menace, a little out-of-the-box thinking is required. Digital interventions are beginning to take over to help grapple with vector-borne diseases. The city corporation's health department is working on an app to monitor the fieldwork of 5,000 workers who visit households to eliminate mosquito breeding...

-The Telegraph Calcutta: Trinamul MP Kunal Ghosh was arrested this evening on the charge of non-payment of salary and other statutory dues to a section of employees of the media outfit of the busted saradha Group. Ghosh is a Rajya Sabha MP but has been suspended from the Trinamul Congress. "He (Kunal) was the group CEO of the media operation. We have documentary evidence that suggests his involvement with Sudipto Sen (the arrested...

-The Hindu Suspended Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh was arrested on Saturday after the investigating authorities found prima facie evidence against him in connection with the saradha Ponzi scam. Briefing reporters, Arnab Ghosh, Deputy Commissioner, Detective Department of the Bidhannagar City Police, said: "Prima facie evidence indicates that Kunal Ghosh played an equal part in the conspiracy." The saradha group, which allegedly duped people of over Rs. 2,300 crore through its various Ponzi...