-The Hindu Business Line In view of the distortions arising out of excessive price support, direct income transfers to farmers is a better option The domestic debate has tended to conclude that the rise in MSP announced in the Budget is an essential part of achieving the government’s objective of doubling farm incomes. But MSP stands for minimum support prices and is an instrument designed for reducing income volatility, not for raising...

-Financial Express For sustainable growth, Rural India’s squeezing purchasing power needs immediate attention New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) unanimous call for a 25-basis-point rate hike after four years was primarily driven by the strengthening core inflation as well as the rising household inflationary expectations. Since the April Monetary Policy Committee meeting, there have been some significant macro developments, mainly on four counts. First, the global crude oil prices have risen...

-Livemint.com Despite claims of an economic recovery, rural wage growth of non-agricultural labourers continued to be in negative territory for the fourth month in a row Data released by the Central Statistics Office last month suggested a recovery in economic growth during the fourth quarter of 2017-18, with the economy expanding by 7.7% compared to that in the first quarter, when growth was at its lowest at 5.7%. This has given some...

-GoIMonitor.com The villagers getting management rights under the Forest Rights Act can inspire others “First came the forest, followed by the people, and then the government. Does this chronology allow the newest entrant in the scheme to determine the relationship between the two older entities? In other words, does the new regime of community forest resource bequeath rights or is it merely a recognition of unalienable rights already vested in the communities living...

-The Hindu It is now clear that the Indian economy is moving along a lower growth path At the end of May the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released much-awaited estimates of national income for the final quarter of the 2017-18 financial year. The timing coincided with the completion of four years in office of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In a propaganda blitz, surging through the Net, the government embraced the...