-The Hindu Arun Jaitley has steered clear of populist giveaways in the run-up to Assembly elections Some said it was a ‘make or break’ Budget, one that would use the potential gains from demonetisation to give a decisive push to economic growth. Others said it would be a populist budget aimed at the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere. It has turned out to be neither. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has presented...

-The Indian Express Considering all these aspects, farmers had higher expectation that Budget 2017-18 would give them the best deal. However, this expectation was not met. It is now widely recognised and reported that farmers in India are facing a distressing situation. During 1995-96 to 2015-16, about 3 lakh farmers in the country committed suicide due to economic distress and depression. The Election Manifesto of Bharatiya Janata Party in both 1998 and...

-The Hindu The welfare challenge lies in providing assistance to needy households to ensure adequate diets without creating conditions in which they opt for inferior diets that are too heavy on cereals With the Kerala government’s decision to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from April, the whole country will be covered by the legislation. However, if we expect the NFSA to improve India’s malnutrition statistics, we may well be disappointed....

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The demonetisation-hit economy, which is expected to limp back to normalcy by the middle of this calendar year, may report a GDP growth rate of around 7 per cent for 2016-17, according to North Block economists. Of course, like all cautious economists, North Block's tribe of coffee swigging GDP forecasters and policy sherpas will add a ceteris paribus (all other things being equal), the Latin term that the followers...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A speeding luxury car snuffing three young lives, including a woman techie and an auto-rickshaw driver, in Delhi's suburb on Friday night has once again pointed to how youth continue to be the most vulnerable road users and that speeding is the biggest killer. The latest road accidents report of Union road transport ministry shows how every third person killed in road crashes is in the...