-Scroll.in India has attracted negative attention in recent years as the second most unequal country in the world, after Russia. Spectacular economic growth over the past three decades has made India a global economic powerhouse. Between 1990 and 2016, India’s economy grew at a compound rate of around 7% in current dollars. The Indian economy is now the third largest in the world by purchasing power parity after China and the...

-Livemint.com The tribal belt of south Bengal has become ground zero of a grim battle with an ever-increasing population of visiting elephants The elephants are here,” Jiten Singh declares without any show of emotion as we arrive at TapoBan (Madhyapara) village. About 65km from Kharagpur town, TapoBan is a tribal hamlet deep within the vast forested terrain known as Jangalmahal, in West Bengal. It is nearing dusk. Ordinarily, the village would be...

-The Times of India This month, Kolkata-based Mr and Mrs Soubito Banerjee, who are in their 70s, saw their medical insurance premium almost double from Rs 32,000 to Rs 63,000. Chennai-based Annathai Gopalakrishnan (68) will pay Rs 58,000, up from Rs 29,000. In general, a health insurance cover of just Rs 5 lakh for a 65-year-old couple now costs Rs 84,000 per annum, as against Rs 54,000 five years ago. For...

-Scroll.in The Insolvency and Banking Code was brought in as a law in May 2016 to resolve cases of unpaid debts by companies. It allows creditors to initiate insolvency proceedings against defaulting companies so as to recover their money. The code was thought necessary because existing systems of dealing with insolvent companies had failed to deliver, with cases dragging on for years without result. The code sets up an Insolvency and Bankruptcy...

-Livemint.com Jean Drèze’s new book of essays defends action-oriented research, especially in the field of development economics Designing government policy to eradicate corruption is not easy. As the “demonetization” exercise demonstrated, such earnest endeavours can have big and unintended consequences and they often might not proceed according to plan. Although not concerning itself with demonetization, a new book by economist Jean Drèze delves into the challenges of making public policy for India....