-Livemint.com Despite the construction sector being in the doldrums, personal housing was holding its own—till demonetisation Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to create 10 million jobs in five years while campaigning in the 2014 general election. After completing more than three years in office, has the government been able to deliver? We do not know for sure. Findings of a large-sample survey on employment, conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO),...

-The Hindu There must be consensus among major political parties around vital issues like health Barely a month before the deaths of children in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly due to the disruption of oxygen supply in the BRD Medical College, the U.P. Health Minister had addressed a consultation in Lucknow organised by the Observer Research Foundation. He admitted that U.P.’s health system was in the “ICU”, and said he was trying...

-Press release from People's Budget Initiative (PBI)/ Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) New Delhi: The coalition -- People’s Budget Initiative (PBI) with a membership of diverse organisations working across different sectors in the country, organized a national convention on pressing issues (such as budgetary allocations for social sectors, transparency etc.) deserving a closer scrutiny and a larger public debate. The two-day workshop entitled ‘Civil Society Budget Work and Governance...

-The Indian Express Cash transfers instead of food has been widely debated with several criticising it for not being an actual substitute for take-home rations, which is a mix of cereals, fats, sugar and pulses, with added micronutrients. In a major policy shift, the Ministry of Woman and Child Development (WCD) has prepared a proposal to substitute take-home rations, given in aanganwadis for infants under three and pregnant and lactating mothers,...

-The Indian Express On the latest justifications being given by the RBI, Franco asked “what was that economics he (Governor Patel) learnt to roll out a financial policy like Demonetisation troubling the entire population?” Chennai: Blaming the Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel for “misusing” the central bank to carry out demonetisation which “caused trouble to the common man”, D Thomas Franco, general secretary of All India Bank Officers Confederation has...