-TheWire.in Did the auto sector's woes go hand-in-hand with the boom in affordable housing segment under PMAY? Sales in the auto sector and in related industries have fallen considerably in India. Maruti-Suzuki, the country’s leading car manufacturer, has reported a 32.7% decline in its total vehicle sales. There is a similar SITuation across the sector, including the two-wheeler industry. The sector has already lost over 300,000 jobs. What explains the massive slowdown in...

-The Indian Express To avoid a substantial fiscal slippage at the state government level, a sizeable expenditure reduction or deferral is likely to be required, given that the borrowing limit set by the central government acts as a soft constraint to the size of the states’ fiscal deficits. There are growing concerns that the two major sources of tax revenues for state governments, the state goods and services tax (SGST) and...

-The Hindu Business Line Farmers’ organisations have threatened to disrupt the functioning of Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) in Maharashtra if the Centre sticks to its stand of prohibiting onion exports and imposing limits on stocks. Farmers in the onion hub of Nashik said that they would agitate against the government’s decision as farmers are facing the brunt. With onion prices rising, the government had on Sunday prohibited exports until further notice and...

-India Water Portal Deconstructing the traditional narrow engineering based policy discourses around floods and droughts and connecting them to social and cultural realities is the need of the hour in India. India has witnessed extreme weather conditions this year. While parts of the north and south have battled drought like conditions this summer, the northeast and western coastal areas witnessed heavy rains and floods. While climate change has been highlighted as one...

-The Indian Express Awareness campaigns are needed to deal with climate change We are delighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an impassioned appeal for the reduction in the use of chemicals in agriculture. Though, in time, the PM will realise it is easier to announce new approaches than to get the agriculture system to embrace the appeal. This does not have to be. Public policy and allocation of funds can...