-The Hindu Several interventions are needed on the demand and supply side to alleviate farm distress Loan waivers remain the preferred solution for governments to tackle farm distress. S. Mahendra Dev and M. Govinda Rao talk about the inability of governments to think of long-term solutions to tackle farm distress, in a discussion modeRATed by Vikas Dhoot. Edited excerpts: * Despite farm productivity rising, severe distress in the sector is a concern. How...

-The Hindu With a high percentage of Muslims, Bihar’s Seemanchal region frames issues of representation and welfare In the ongoing general election, Seemanchal, a historically neglected and yet socially and politically significant region in Bihar, has once again registered a high voting percentage. Comprising four districts — Purnea, Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria — Seemanchal has a population of about 1 crore. It assumes sociopolitical significance owing to the large proportion of Muslims...

-TheWire.in A study has raised questions raised over the quality of the MCA-21 database, which is a crucial part of the new GDP series math. New Delhi: A National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report has highlighted deficiencies in key government database of Indian companies, an observation that economists say could have consequences for the credibility of India’s GDP numbers. A technical study conducted by the NSSO between June 2016 and June 2017,...

-The Hindu Business Line Such computation will underestimate GDP, says the former Chief Statistician The National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) recent study involving samples from the MCA-21 database has put the whole GDP computation methodology under fire, but on a wrong basis, according to former Chief Statistician of India Pronab Sen. The NSSO study had revealed that there are several more shell companies in the system than what the Centre realised. Having numerous...

-The Hindu Shell companies in MCA-21 submitting balance sheets regularly very much part of measurement, says former chief statistician The deficiencies found in the MCA-21 database of the corpoRATe sector, where more than a third of the sample companies were either untraceable, out of coverage, or closed, will not have a major impact on the calculation of GDP and GVA, according to prominent statisticians closely associated with the subject. A recent report by...