-The Times of India Former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das , who played a key role during the demonetisation drive, spoke to TOI's Sidhartha & Surojit Gupta, four months after retiring from service in May. He says he does not agree with the criticism that implementation of demonetisation had serious shortcomings. Excerpts: * What is your assessment on the state of the economy? The macroeconomic parameters, except the growth figures which are down...

-The Indian Express It underlined that the US government funded the 2017 report which estimated 40 million slaves in the world, including 25 million in the Asia-Pacific. WARNING that “global documentation on slavery is increasingly targeting India as home to the highest number of slaves in the world,” the Intelligence Bureau in a “secret” note has recommended a strong campaign to “discredit” the information and a diplomatic offensive against it. The Bureau submitted...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today sought the response of the Centre and the Election Commission on a joint petition filed by NGOs challenging amendments to the 2016 and 2017 Finance Acts that allegedly allow unfettered donations by corporate houses in India and foreign entities to parties in the name of "political bonds". According to advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, appearing for the NGOs Association of Democratic Reforms and...

-Livemint.com National Institute of Nutrition report says long hours in office, eating unhealthy food, drinking carbonated beverages, getting little time for exercise makes India unhealthy New Delhi: Glued to the chair for long hours in office, eating unhealthy food, drinking carbonated beverages and getting little time for exercise! That’s the picture of young employees in urban India presented by a report by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN). The report by NIN,...

-BBC Economist Jean Dreze's new book makes an increasingly necessary argument that creating a morally good, progressive society is as important as improving traditional development indexes, writes Nilanjana S Roy. The jhola, a sturdy, often exuberantly decorated cloth sling bag, can be spotted all across India. Over time, this precursor to the backpack and the man bag became the accessory of choice for a varied set of Indians, from sadhus (holy men)...