-MoneyControl.com Bihar, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal could face a crisis if they fail to curb non-merit expenditure, the central bank has warned A study of fiscal parameters of states by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) identified Bihar, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal as highly stressed due to their high debt levels, the quality of expenditure and the level of fiscal deficit. These states could face a crisis if...

-Newsclick.in The recovery team ‘created a scene’ in front of the farmer’s relatives at his house in a village in Bijnor hours before his niece’s wedding. Lucknow: A 43-year-old debt-ridden farmer committed suicide in Uttar pradesh’s (UP) Bijnor district on Friday after being allegedly humiliated by the loan recovery team of the village cooperative society. A resident of Hasanpur Jat village, under Haldaur Police Station, Revati Singh had taken a loan of about...

-The Telegraph We have raised concerns to Government of India that this seems to really go beyond simply random acts of violence: Balakrishnan Rajagopal Before the latest punitive demolition by the Uttar pradesh government in Allahabad this month, three United Nations special rapporteurs had written to the Centre criticising similar actions targeting Muslims after communal clashes in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Delhi. This was confirmed by one of the special rapporteurs, Balakrishnan Rajagopal...

The transport sector is important for the smooth functioning of an economy. The supply chains for various products and by-products (both domestically as well as internationally) can work efficiently only if the transportation of raw materials and inputs, and final goods and commodities takes place without disruption.   Due to economic growth, India’s annual CO2 (i.e., carbon dioxide) emission has expanded from 1.19 billion tonnes in 2005 to 2.44 billion tonnes...

-The Telegraph The media’s culpability is damaging India’s interests Media culpability can damage a country’s interests. Two recent instances will suffice to illustrate the point. The media’s role in recent events triggered by a Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson’s remarks on Prophet Mohammed has received less attention than it deserves. The focus has been on the offending spokesperson. There was mayhem across the land on account of a television news show. The tally...