-Hindustan Times Acting chairman PC Mohanan and external member J Meenakshi both had terms lasting until June 20 next year, according to the website of the National Statistical Commission. Mohanan was also an external member. With their departures, the commission now has no external members. Upset over the way the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was perceived to have sidelined them and undermined their authority, the acting chairman and an external member...

-The Hindu Steps like limited procurement, boosting productivity and consolidating land holdings can help reduce agrarian distress Recently, there has been active discussion on the strategies addressing farm distress. There are media reports that the ‘interim Budget’ may focus on the farm sector among other things. Agrarian distress, in the present context, is mainly in terms of low agricultural prices and, consequently, poor farm incomes. Low productivity in agriculture and related supply...

Passionate about the deepening of agrarian crisis, quite often journalists and media persons cite figures related to farm suicide (as provided by the National Crime Records Bureau) in order to draw the attention of the readers. They do so in the following ways: * Compare the absolute number of farm suicides (viz. suicide by cultivators + suicide by agricultural labourers) across regions/ states for a particular time point or time period...

-The Hindu Business Line The sharp cut in back-series growth rates for some years in methodologically unsound. It suggests political interference The recent release of the back series of national income has raised a series of controversial reactions. It is understandable for, the gross domestic product (GDP) numbers and the resulting growth estimates provide analytically useful, more powerful than commonly understood, perspectives encompassing not only economic but also social and political spheres. To...

-The Telegraph After debunking faith in numbers, assertions by powerful and charismatic leaders can be projected as the truth The comment on the weaponisation of economics by the former chief economic adviser, Arvind Subramanian, is a telling indictment of the way political interests trump such other considerations as veracity and transparency. The latest round of revisions in the rate of growth of gross domestic product is a perfect example of the use...