-Livemint.com It should lay to rest the ongoing debate about this government’s attempt to radically restructure India’s welfare architecture There were no surprises—no helicopter drop of money into Jan-Dhan accounts, no move to dismantle ongoing welfare schemes in favour of a universal basic income (UBI). Far from being the populist, game-changing budget that many had expected, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley presented a sombre, status quo budget which, apart from some tinkering...

-Livemint.com While there have been some positives, including the reforms on political funding, the real test of the budget was the ability to manage spending to revive the economy This was the fourth budget of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Coming at a time when the world around is full of uncertainties, more was expected from the budget than what has been delivered. The domestic uncertainty is certainly the outcome of demonetisation....

-Hindustan Times According to a state government report, there has been an 80% drop in cases of mangrove destruction in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) from 2015 to 2016. However, activists have criticised the Survey, pointing to the fact that no one has been convicted of destroying mangroves since 2013. The report, by the Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit, a body constituted by the Bombay High Court that works under the state mangrove...

-NDTV The rock-star days are back for Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, who had maintained a studied silence ever since India scored an economic self-goal over his head on 8 November 2016. His ambitious Economic Survey, released on Tuesday, includes a much-awaited presentation of the Finance Ministry's thinking on Universal Basic Income (UBI). Contrary to some media reports, the Survey does not advocate a specific plan for UBI in India. Rather,...

-Livemint.com On demonetisation’s impact on the agriculture sector, the Economic Survey said higher winter plantings may not necessarily lead to higher production New Delhi: India’s farm sector is entwined in regulation and is a living legacy of the socialist era, the Economic Survey released on Tuesday said, criticizing curbs on marketing of agriculture produce and imposition of stock limits on traders. “While progress has been made in the last two years, producers (farmers)...