-ThePrint.in DoPT ad for applications gets mixed reactions – some welcome the move but others are apprehensive, say may increase scope for political appointments New Delhi: The Modi government has decided to allow private sector specialists a lateral entry to the crucial joint secretary position in at least 10 ministries and departments, a first-of-its-kind move that has evoked mixed reactions from bureaucrats and politicians. The position of joint secretary has traditionally been...

-The Indian Express The problem is under-employment. It won’t be resolved if the residually-employed are notionally shifted from the informal to formal sector. In an article in January, Soumya Kanti Ghosh and Pulak Ghosh (Ghosh and Ghosh) claimed that seven million new jobs have been created in the formal sector. Their claim is based on the increase in registration under the Employees Provident Fund (EPFO), National Pension Scheme and Employees State Insurance...

-TheWire.in Our progress in conserving natural heritage, environmental stability and ecosystem services is measured solely through the lens of tree cover. It shouldn't. India’s non-forest ecosystems are biting the dust in the absence of a holistic conservation policy. In place of the latter, we have a new National Forest Policy that outlines the use of forests in legally binding terms. First drafted by the British to maximise timber production, this policy was revised...

-The Indian Express Raising agricultural exports requires the government to unburden policy of consumer bias. A balance should be struck between meeting the needs of food-insecure consumers and income-insecure farmers. The Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh, recently tweeted about the government’s resolve to increase the value of the country’s agricultural exports to $100 billion by 2022-23. The Dalwai Committee Report on doubling farmers’ incomes also talked of a similar target. It said,...

-The Hindu Business Line Trade deficit widens as imports rise; exporters worried about future New Delhi: A fall in exports of gems & jewellery, petroleum products, readymade garments and farm products pulled down India’s overall exports (year-on-year) by a marginal 0.6 per cent to $29.11 billion in March 2018. Exporters are worried as several of the sectors that have taken a hit are labour-intensive, which they say is due to liquidity problems. Exports, however,...