-Economic and Political Weekly The current regime seeks to reform labour laws with the understanding that these reforms will improve industrial growth and expand the possibilities of enterprise. However, there is already ample evidence from within India that this obsession with reforming labour law, particularly in the way the government has done it till now, will not take us any closer in creating more jobs or a healthy industrial sector. These...

-The Hindu Business Line   The Open Government Data initiative is gaining ground, but it needs to be in step with the Central Information Commission Open government data (OGD) is fashionable. Governments and public institutions in Europe and other parts of the globe are making increasing numbers of datasets available to the public by means of national, regional, local or thematic portals, in keeping with their political commitments towards open government and open...

-The Business Standard Wholesale prices of edible oils have risen 40% since Oct 15; pulses and wheat have surged 4.62% and 8.33%, respectively These could still be early signs, but it appears the breather on food inflation that India has been enjoying for some time is going to end. Following a sharp reduction in production estimates, prices of key agricultural commodities have risen over the past three weeks. According to data from the...

-Livemint Maharashtra is reducing malnutrition. It may have lessons for other states Over the past month, there has been much debate about what resulted in India's improved ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI). There is little clarity in terms of data and policies about how India achieved significant improvements in child nutrition over the past decade. The GHI report by the International Food Policy Research Institute did not give a clear...

-The Indian Express Recent announcements on possible changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and restrictions on its coverage are baffling and worrisome. The passing of the MGNREGA and the Right to Information Act heralded a new vision of citizenship and state responsibility. The former created a safety net for the rural poor. The latter gave taxpayers and voters an opportunity to bridge the gap between state...