-The Hindu What is the Opposition-ruled States’ stand on reduction of value added tax to bring down petrol prices?  The story so far: Petrol is retailing at more than ₹100 per litre across india. While rising crude oil prices have added to the burden, the primary reason behind the steep increase in pump fuel prices over the last few years is the gradually rising Central Government's excise duty component. Currently, for every...

-Deccan Herald What the 2020 annual Periodic Labour Force Survey data reveals is that the situation remains grim The Covid-19 pandemic has only worsened what was already a joblessness crisis in early 2020. The third annual labour force survey (2019-20) by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), covering the period till June 30, 2020, told a grim story. Earlier, the NSSO had in 2017-18 reported that open unemployment had reached a 45-year...

-Hindustan Times In view of the shortage of coal, a dominant fuel used to generate electricity in the country, the government halted hundreds of passenger trains. Meanwhile, state-run Coal india ramped up coal production by 27.2% in April. Several states across the country reeled under long power cuts, as hotter-than-normal temperatures pushed the electricity demand, triggering a major power crisis. According to a report by Reuters, electricity supply fell short of demand...

-Newsclick.in The high healthcare costs were expected to be addressed through the introduction of health insurance by the Union government, but it covers less than 30% of hospital charges leaving a heavy financial burden on the poor. Health outcomes have remained grossly unequal, with india's dalits and adivasis living shorter lives of poorer quality, as per a recent paper published by Oxfam india. Private infrastructure now accounts for nearly 62% of india's...

-Financial Express Dataset and methodological weaknesses cast doubt on recent poverty estimates that claim drastic reduction Bhalla, Bhasin and Virmani in a working paper (IMF), claimed india’s poverty, per a $1.9 per person per day poverty line (at PPP), was 0.9% of the population in 2020. Thanks to government transfer of free rations of 5 kg per person month, it fell to 0.8% (from 0.9% in 2019). Roy and de Velt, for...