-The Indian Express The Centre is within its rights to enact laws promoting barrier-free trade of farm produce (inter- as well as intra-state) and also dismantling stockholding restrictions. But that can be only after the farmer has sold. In November 2019, the Fifteenth Finance Commission submitted its interim report, wherein it proposed special “performance based incentives” to states that carried out agriculture sector reforms. These reforms specifically pertained to their enacting and implementing...

-Livemint.com The country can’t expect to be a superpower with gender disparities worsening the way they are The latest bulletins from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) present a dismal picture. The calamitous fall in employment in April 2020 was followed by a partial recovery in May and June, but the recovery tapered off by September. October and November saw declines again. This slowdown in economic activity can be seen in...

-The Indian Express India started the calendar year by recording the slowest GDP growth rate in six years and ended it by entering a technical recession. Here's how it all unfolded. Dear Readers, Right through the year, at ExplainSpeaking, we have strived to make sense of the most important developments in the Indian economy. As the year ends, here are the highlights from 2020 and five things to watch out for in 2021. The...

-Livemint.com Data from the corporate affairs ministry show the setting up of new firms, which indicates investment intent, fell 19.5% in November to 13,453 from the preceding month The tally of newly incorporated companies, as well as electronic permits raised for transporting goods, declined on a sequential basis in November for the first time since April. This loss of momentum in economic recovery after the initial turbulence caused by the pandemic could worry...

-The Indian Express The latest National Family Health Survey data shows that in several parts of India, children born between 2014 and 2019 are more malnourished than the previous generation Dear Readers, Consider some of the biggest challenges facing the world — armed conflict, chronic disease, education, infectious disease, population growth, biodiversity, climate change, hunger & malnutrition, natural disasters, water and sanitation. What would be your response if you were given billions of dollars...