-The Hindu The agenda to set up a development bank is a welcome initiative, but questions remain on its design Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s press conference on August 23, announcing a slew of measures to boost the economy and financial market sentiments, had an interesting idea. It was about setting up a development bank. Ms. Sitharaman said: “In order to improve access to long-term finance, it is proposed to establish an organisation to...

-Hindustan Times It threatens individual sovereignty, undermines citizen rights, and is a lost chance to meaningfully grapple with data colonisation Data is a sovereign asset,” said the Union minister of railways and commerce, Piyush Goyal, at the G20 meeting in Japan. Goyal was against using free trade agreements to justify the free flow of data. Instead, he said, government restrictions on data flows would allow India to be able to use “personal,...

-The Indian Express Fixing the economy today cannot happen through consumption; revival in investment is what's desperately needed. New Delhi: Investment, unlike consumption, satisfies no immediate want. The businessman putting his money today is basically taking a bet on the future, when it would start yielding returns. Such bets are a function of the “state of confidence” at the time of investment. The investor has to be reasonably, if not absolutely,...

-Scroll.in Democracy requires a national character that isn’t grounded in ignorance and government policy that is not a sophisticated version of Whatsapp. It is now clear – 1,020 days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told India he was wiping out 85% of its currency, by value – that demonetisation was not just a failure but a spectacularly misconceived move. That its destructive effects took at least 100 lives in its immediate aftermath,...

-The Hindu General Manager sends SOS to Ministry, warns that onboard housekeeping services will have to be terminated Chennai: Amid an unprecedented cash crunch, the Southern railway has sent an SOS to the Ministry of railways that if adequate funds are not allotted by August-end, it would have no option but to terminate onboard housekeeping services (OBHS), pest control and supply of linen contracts on all 110 long-distance trains. While officials prepare to...