-The New Indian Express The authors conclude that the record pace of poverty reduction was due to high growth rate. Only 84 million (8.4 crore) Indians are poor as on 2017 down from 270 million in 2011, claims a new study. It also states that poverty, as per the Tendulkar Poverty line, reduced from 14.9 per cent in 2011 to 7.0 per cent in 2017 -- the fastest pace the country has seen...

-The Telegraph 'Finance secretary Rajiv Kumar was eventually not chosen, probably because of stiff opposition' A member of the search committee for the chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) was also an applicant and he was shortlisted, sources have told The Telegraph. The applicant was eventually not chosen, probably because of stiff opposition, the sources added. The search committee constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi included cabinet secretary Rajeev Gauba, finance secretary Rajiv Kumar and secretary...

-Factly.in Debate on communal riots is a constant in public discourse these days. While NCRB provides data on riots with a  ‘communal/religious’ reasons, the Home Ministry which provided data on communal incidents till 2017 has now stopped providing such data. Over the past few years, communal incidents and riots have been constant in public discourse. Data provided by law enforcement authorities does indicate a substantial number of communal incidents every year across...

-Livemint.com With no significant spending increase to boost consumption or other major reform, the 2020 budget may lack the firepower to reignite the economy A growth slump, a precarious fiscal position and rising inflation: these are extraordinary times for the Indian economy. Yet in the 2020 Budget, these extraordinary times did not lead to the extraordinary measures so many economists were clamouring for. Like previous budgets under this government, the latest one...

-Down to Earth Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget has all the ingredients to deepen India’s farm crisis These are desperate times for India. Rural unemployment was at a 45-year-high while consumption expenditure of rural families fell 9 per cent between 2011-12 and 2017-18, according to a report by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), which the government never released but got leaked to the media in November 2019. Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, the income of farmers...