-Livemint.com The RBI-commissioned study listed faulty crop choices and aspirational consumption patterns as other major factors for farmer suicides New Delhi: Shame arising out of inability to repay loans taken from relatives and acquaintances is a key reason for farmers resorting to suicide, a study commissioned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) found. The study titled “Lives in debt: narratives of agrarian distress and farmer suicides”, conducted by researchers at Shiv Nadar...

-The Indian Express A survey shows that it is numerically insignificant. The unusual attention that is being devoted to the practice is politically motivated and a waste of resources Since May 11, the Supreme Court of India has been discussing the constitutional validity of the “triple talaq system” on a priority and on a daily basis, yet without the benefit of empirical data. The SC could have directed the government to launch...

-Livemint.com A detailed look at Labour Bureau’s Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) methodology and design suggests that one shouldn’t read too much in these numbers New Delhi: Opposition parties and many commentators have been citing the Labour Bureau’s Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) numbers to attack the government over failure to generate employment). How credible are such claims? A detailed look at QES methodology and design suggests that one shouldn’t read too much in...

-Livemint.com Little has changed in terms of infrastructure gap between India’s rich and poor states between 2005-06 and 2014-15 From expressways in Uttar Pradesh to road tunnels in Jammu and Kashmir, large infrastructure projects are showcased by state governments as examples of development politics. Have these efforts been successful in bridging the infrastructure gap between Indian states? A look at the changes in the Mint state infrastructure index between 2005-06 and 2014-15 shows...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The big red blotch on the Narendra Modi government's report card after three years in power is its dismal performance in job creation - and there are no indications that things will improve in the near future. Cold statistics from the government's labour bureau show that job growth plummeted in key sectors to its lowest levels in eight years in calendar years 2015 and 2016 at 1.55 lakh...