-The Hindu Pew Research report suggests middle class may have shrunk by 30% and number of poor risen by 7.5 crore India’s middle class may have shrunk by a third due to 2020’s pandemic-driven recession, while the number of poor people — earning less than ₹150 per day — more than doubled, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center. In a comparison, Chinese incomes remained relatively unshaken, with just a...

-The Indian Express The state must prioritise removing malnutrition, give uncompromising priority to improving primary health infrastructure In 1947, post-colonial India set off with the ambition of building a modern state on the principles of equality where citizens, by virtue of their birth in the country, would be entitled to a life of dignity. While the Constitution provided the rights to life, liberty, nutritional standards and maternity care, it did not explicitly...

-The Indian Express The minister said that the proposal would require amendments to existing laws and is “under the consideration of the government.” The government is considering a proposal to link electoral roll with Aadhaar with a view to “curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person at different places”, Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad informed Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday. “Electoral roll database system...

-The Hindu Inefficiencies in the Aadhaar project should not come in the way of welfare delivery The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, did the right thing by terming as serious the allegation by a petitioner that three crore ration cards were cancelled for not being linked with the Aadhaar database and that these were connected to reported starvation deaths in some States. The unique identification scheme has been in existence for more than...

-The Indian Express Digital empowerment is the key differentiator. Without that, our MSMEs will not be future ready. A significant major contributor to the India growth story is going to be manufacturing. Manufacturing by small units, cottage units and MSMEs, if effectively facilitated, will be the game changer to accelerate economic growth, employment, income levels and enhance supply chain efficiencies. For MSMEs to be sustainable and effective, the need of the hour...