-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Retail inflation dipped to a record low in June on the back of sliding food prices, while industrial output growth slowed in May as manufacturing remained sluggish, mounting pressure on the RBI to cut interest rates when it reviews monetary policy on August 2. Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Wednesday showed retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), rose...

-The Indian Express As per data being examined by the committee, the minimum wages paid to agricultural workers are significantly higher than MGNREGA wages in Karnataka, Punjab, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Mizoram, and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands. THE COMMITTEE for revision of wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act (MGNREGA) has found that minimum agricultural wages are higher than MGNREGA wages in 15 states. An upward revision...

-The Hindu Business Line Asim Dasgupta, who was Finance Minister of West Bengal for 24 years, was probably the only CPI(M) member who attended Saturday’s event at the Central Hall of Parliament, on the eve of the GST’s launch. In fact, Dasgupta was Chairman of the Empowered Group of State Finance Ministers which prepared the first formulation of GST laws in 2009. He spoke to BusinessLine on the new indirect tax regime,...

-The Hindu Business Line Using just wholesale price index as deflator could distort real GDP. Price indices for all inputs and outputs would work better Prior to the introduction of the all-India Consumer Price Index, popularly known as CPI combined (rural plus urban), the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was the most useful price index in India. It measured the weekly rhythm of price movement in the country. Since 2009, WPI has been computed...

-The Indian Express Branding the farmer agitations ‘political’ betrays a lack of understanding There is no proof required that economists commenting on farmer issues have reached an affliction point. When the counsellor one seeks advice from is as callous as saying that the farmers’ agitation was political and justifies it by citing declining farmer suicides and rising farmer prosperity (‘Just why are farmers rioting?’ by Surjit Bhalla, IE, June 10), one can’t...