-The HinduThe number of tax returns filed has gone up but collections have not shown a commensurate increaseThe Central Board of Direct Taxes has released the latest data on income tax collections. Several interesting facts emerge from the data. The number of taxpayers has increased drastically over the last four years. The number of tax returns filed has surged to 6.85 crore in FY 2017-18, an 80% Growth since FY...

-Frontline.inJean Dreze is a well-known Indian economist working in the field of "development economics". Born in Belgium, he studied mathematical economics at the University of Essex and completed his PhD from the Indian Statistical Institute (New Delhi) in 1982.He has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics and is currently visiting professor at Ranchi University as well as honorary professor at the Delhi School...

-Networkideas.org In recent times, the clamour for formalising economic activity, or shrinking its unorganised component and expanding the organised, has been heard from diverse sources. There are those who want formalisation to occur because the unorganised sector is seen as being largely outside the direct and indirect tax net, depriving the government of much needed resources. Hence, for example, one feature seen as favouring the Goods and Services Tax regime is...

-Livemint.com Distributing biofortified staple foods via government schemes such as Midday Meal can help in the battle against hidden hunger Iron deficiency and anemia are well-recognized and persistent problems in India, exacting a toll that goes much beyond measurable health problems. Most Indian government initiatives targeting anemia so far have had limited success in achieving large-scale impact. Solving these problems require an innovative approach that can reach the most affected segment of the...

-Livemint.com While wealth has been rising in India, not everyone has shared in this Growth. There is still considerable wealth poverty, says Credit Suisse’s India wealth report The richest 10% of Indians own 77.4% of the country’s wealth, says Credit Suisse in their 2018 Global Wealth Report. The bottom 60%, the majority of the population, own 4.7%. The richest 1% own 51.5% (chart 1 above). And it’s not some bleeding-heart NGO that’s...