-The Hindu India’s labour participation RATe, very low by world standards, fell sharply after demonetisation. Women bore the brunt Monthly measurement of the unemployment RATe is one of the requirements of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The SDDS — India was one of the early signatories —was established in 1996 to help countries access the international capital markets by providing adequate economic and financial information...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is considering a nearly threefold-hike in the margin money for RATion dealers from existing Rs 70 to Rs 200 per quintal, besides paying arrears to them. Food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain on Saturday said the matter is under active consideRATion of the government. "A proposal in this regard will be placed before the cabinet at the earliest for trebling the margin money," Hussain said...

-The Telegraph Setting the record straight on the Narendra Modi establishment’s pervasive data-twisting Post truth. This seems to be the only surviving truth in today’s India, a country overrun with bare-faced lies, falsehood, deceit and invented truths — statistics. Note the brazen manner in which the chief of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Bibek Debroy, declared recently that a new national sample survey will be conducted by the government to...

-The Hindu Business Line In the wake of the government announcing direct income support of ?6,000 per year for small and marginal farmers in the interim Budget on February 1, the Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, raised the limit for collateral-free agriculture loans to Rs.1.6 lakh from Rs.1 lakh. The central bank said the increased limit will enhance coverage of small and marginal farmers in the formal credit system. The circular...

-Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) The Interim Union Budget 2019-20, the last budget presented by the incumbent government, comes at a time when the economy is beset with myriad problems. Among the various challenges facing the economy, perhaps the most critical are those related to the acute agrarian distress, burgeoning unemployment and slowing down of the economy. While it is true that many of these problems began prior to...