-The Hindu Investment in these areas will create demand in the short run and make the economy more competitive in the long run In recent months, the government’s macroeconomic policy has acquired a new salience in the context of reversing the current slowdown. The policy currently being pursued is intended primarily to incentivise potential investors by facilitating ease-of-doing-business and making large-scale concessions to the corporate sector. In this context, the government is...

-The New Indian Express The committee recommended that the number of MBBS and PG seats in the country be made equal by 2025, along with shifting healthcare from the state list to the concurrent list in the Constitution. NEW DELHI: A high-level panel on reforms in the health sector has come up with radical suggestions like shifting healthcare from the state list to the concurrent list in the Constitution, opening over 3,000-5,000...

-The Hindu The country’s hybrid seed model for cotton favours seed companies over farmers Genetically Modified (GM) pest resistant Bt cotton hybrids have captured the Indian market since their introduction in 2002. These now cover over 95% of the area under cotton, with the seeds produced entirely by the Private Sector. India’s cotton production in 2019 is projected as the highest ever: 354 lakh bales. Bt cotton’s role in increasing India’s cotton...

-Livemint.com MGNREGS could alleviate rural distress but, in its current form, its overall impact on the rural economy is limited in scope With rural distress deepening across India and private consumption growing anaemically, calls for ramping up the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), are growing louder ahead of the upcoming budget. Proponents of MGNREGS believe that it may be the only ammunition in the government’s arsenal to fight rural...

-Newsclick.in A plethora of evidence shows that in India, public-private partnerships have either been rolled back or have led to poor health outcomes. Recently, government think-tank NITI Aayog came up with a proposal for running district hospitals in public-private partnership (PPP) mode. Under the proposal, new and existing private medical colleges will be linked with functional district hospitals. According to sources, the proposal is open to public comments till February 10, 2020. There...