-The Hindu The terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission raise questions about constitutional propriety It is not without reason that the presidential terms of reference (ToR) of the Fifteenth Finance Commission have raised questions, and the recent conclave of Finance Ministers of the southern States to discuss contentious issues in the ToR is only the beginning. In the months ahead more debate on this is likely. But the line by...

-Frontline.in The government ought to have specified its definition of cost of crop production in the Budget to prevent any confusion in the minds of people on minimum support prices. Speaking at the Krishi Unnati Mela 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly complained that confusion was being spread about the announcement on minimum support prices (MSPs) made in the Finance Minister’s 2018 Budget speech. The speech had assured farmers that they would,...

-The Economic Times KOLKATA: Charges for SMS alerts on banking transactions may not squeeze account holders much but can be a reasonable earning for many banks, especially in accounts with meagre monthly transactions though income from SMS alert service goes against the advisory from the sector regulator. While Reserve Bank of India told banks to send SMS alerts for every transaction as means to fight frauds, the regulator also directed banks to...

-The Financial Express An RBI-backed research by KLEMS India shows that the employment in 27 sectors fell by 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively in the years 2014 and 2015. For a long time, there is a contention that India’s impressive growth story has been devoid of a similar expansion in jobs, with the proponents, on the other hand, calling the theory a hoax. In absence of comprehensive jobs data, India’s actual employment story...

-Hindustan Times Non-farm jobs was positive despite negative jobs growth in 2014-15 and 2015-16 The KLEM database released by RBI on 27 March, 2018 gives employment statistics for the Indian economy till 2015-16. It shows that total employment shrank by 0.2% and 0.1% in India in 2014-15 and 2015-16. These statistics raise disturbing questions. India’s Gross Value Added (GVA) growth increased continuously between 2012-13 and 2015-16. Why did employment growth go into negative...