-The Indian Express Current economic contraction is different from previous ones. Governments should borrow and spend India has never experienced negative economic growth since 1979-80, and before that in 1972-73, 1965-66 and 1957-58. All these were drought years with 1957-58 also registering a significant balance of payments (BOP) deterioration and 1979-80 witnessing the second global oil shock following the Iranian Revolution. The real GDP decline of 5-10 per cent that various agencies are...

-The Indian Express This is the highest demand the scheme has seen since its inception in 2006-07, an analysis of data available on the MGNREGA portal shows. The demand for work under the MGNREGA has soared to an all-time high, with about 5.53 crore households availing the rural job guarantee scheme in just four-and a-half months of the current financial year. This is the highest demand the scheme has seen since its inception...

-The Hindu Several legal and civil society luminaries have issued a statement against the judgment against Prashant Bhushan in a contempt of court matter. Here is the full text of the statement and full list of signatories: Statement relating to the judgment against Prashant Bhushan in the contempt of court matter August 17, 2020 We, the undersigned citizens of the country, express anguish and disappointment at the verdict of the Hon’ble Supreme Court finding...

-The Hindu In doing so, we risk the disengagement of those most invested in preserving our democratic institutions Ethical explorations often begin with emotional injury. Something simply feels wrong, and you ask yourself whether you are missing an important bit of information or the right perspective. This happened when I read the Supreme Court judgment pronouncing senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt for his two “scurrilous” tweets. I have known...

-TheNewsMinute.com Kerala has become a state fueled by a remittance economy, but the origins of this, dates back to several decades. In the summer of 1980, I visited Kerala’s Varkala in Thiruvanathapuram for the first time. It was the peak of the first Gulf boom. The media was full of stories on the ones who had made it big. But I was doing an article on the petrodollar paupers — the ignored...