Good news about digital inclusion often leaves little room for reporting on bad experiences, which netizens encounter in the digital world. A recent report by LIRNEAsia – an ICT [information and communication technology] policy and regulation think tank working in the Asia-Pacific – says that almost one among five Indian netizens in the age-group 15-65 years had faced online harassment in 2017. In contrast, roughly twelve out of hundred internet...

Since jobs have shrunk due to the deployment of information technology in sectors such as banking, quotas won't guarantee employment, said Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari recently, according to a PTI news dated 5th August, 2018. But the truth is somewhat different from what Mr. Gadkari told journalists about falling jobs against the backdrop of demand for reservation by the Marathas. Let us see why this is so. The total number...

-Outlook Social security enrolment of workers is not a good measure of how many new jobs are created Employment data has always been a subject of debate in India, more so now that the surge in social security enrolments is ­being cited as evidence to press home that 41.26 lakh new jobs were created between September 2017 and April this year. The Central Statistics Office data earlier this month raises more questions...

-The Hindu There is enough evidence to show that the government has failed farmers and agricultural labourers in a big way As the Lok Sabha debates the vote of no confidence today, representatives of farmers from across the country will be marching outside Parliament under the banner of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), an umbrella body of 201 farmer organisations. Farmers have already passed a vote of no confidence against...

-The Hindu Business Line In view of the distortions arising out of excessive price support, direct income transfers to farmers is a better option The domestic debate has tended to conclude that the rise in MSP announced in the Budget is an essential part of achieving the government’s objective of doubling farm incomes. But MSP stands for minimum support prices and is an instrument designed for reducing income volatility, not for raising...