-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement demonetising high denomination notes on November 8, 2016, will do little to address the prime objective of flushing out black money but will adversely affect the economy in the short term, especially the informal sector, which is predominant in India, says M. Govinda Rao, a Member of the Fourteenth Finance Commission and Emeritus Professor, National Institute of Public...

-Outlook Economist Abhijit Sen on how Modi is planning a greater tax intake buying into the idea of a transition to a cash-less economy. Former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, economist Abhijit Sen, in an interview with Lola Nayar, explains that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning a greater tax intake buying into the idea of a transition to a cash-less economy. Sen ­expects a tax amnesty scheme...

-The Hindu We need to rethink social safety nets in India’s growing economy so that they can also focus on the accidents of life rather than solely on the accidents of birth. Sometimes the grand narratives of the Left and the Right do not seem to have any relationship with the lived experiences of ordinary Indians. For the past two decades, the Left has tried to expand social welfare programmes for the...

-The Hindu Business Line It can, with the right approach and changed mind-sets. Tackling pollution’s a bigger issue   The odd-even formula is to be tried out once again in April, after its initial trial implementation in January this year. Repeated pilot testing assumes importance as an attempt to initiate behavioural change, making it acceptable before its permanent enforcement over time. If this is so, two obvious questions arise: How effective is the current...

-Frontline Former psephologist Yogendra Yadav, now a member of the political collective Swaraj Abhiyan, recently toured India’s drought-affected districts. He called it a Samvedna Yatra. During the tour, he took note of the agony in rural areas affected by what he calls “one of the worst droughts in independent India” The drought, according to him, has left farmers and the larger rural community in extreme distress, leading to damaging changes in...