-The Indian Express Policy still hasn’t adjusted itself to address the crisis of agricultural produce deflation. India’s agricultural output grew by hardly 2.7 per cent during the last October-December quarter. That isn’t bad, if one takes the corresponding year-on-year increases for the preceding 10 quarters; these have ranged between 4.2 per cent and 7.5 per cent. The cause for concern is that these reasonably good production growth rates in “real” terms...

-Livemint.com With eight of the 16 high-frequency macroeconomic indicators in the red and only four in green, the Indian economy continues to remain weak, Mint Macro Tracker shows Mumbai/New Delhi: The Indian economy’s momentum continues to slow, shows the latest update of the Mint Macro Tracker, launched in October last year to provide a state-of-the-economy report each month based on trends across 16 high-frequency economic indicators. The Mint Macro Tracker shows that out...

-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...

-India Today The Narendra Modi government has claimed that its flagship Mudra loan scheme is generating employment. But, data shows a miniscule number of Mudra loans generate a return that satisfies even the minimum wage requirement. * The Modi-led govt has been showcasing the Mudra loan scheme to claim that millions of jobs are being created * There is no official data available on the number of jobs created due to the Mudra...

-The Indian Express Subramanian’s suggestions come days ahead of the Budget to be presented on February 1. Incidentally, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said his party will bring Minimum Income Guarantee for every poor person if voted to power. New Delhi: In order to tackle agrarian distress effectively, the Central government and the states should launch a basic income scheme which guarantees minimum cash transfers to all except the well-off in rural...