-Economic and Political Weekly R Nagaraj (nag@igidr.ac.in) is with the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai. The latest quarterly estimates of gross domestic product by the new National Accounts Statistics methodology are once again in the news for the wrong reasons. With inadequate accurate information available on a quarterly basis, the estimates hardly represent the state of the economy and reflect the effects of demonetisation over the October–December 2016 period. Please click...

-The Hindu For the third child, the maternity leave entitlement will only be for 12 weeks. Calling it a ‘humble gift’ to women in India, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya welcomed the Parliament nod to the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Women working in the organised sector will now be entitled to paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks. The bill will benefit about 1.8 million women. The new law will...

-The Hindu Teachers, Anganwadi workers speak out against Centre’s decision Jaipur: Teachers and Anganwadi workers in Rajasthan have spoken out against the Centre's recent decision to link the midday meal scheme to Aadhaar, saying it would completely disrupt the process of food distribution and teaching and learning. They said it would create an “inhuman culture” where children would be denied food due to exclusion through biometrics. While responding to queries of the Right to...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The government's decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for subsidised foodgrains through public distribution system (PDS) today came under the scanner of the Delhi High Court. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notice to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and sought their response before the next date of hearing on April 24. The bench also sought the stand of the...

-PTI New Delhi: A Rs. 48,000-crore Budget for the national capital was presented today by the AAP Government, laying major focus on improving transport, health, water distribution and education infrastructure. In its third Budget, the Arvind Kejriwal Government abolished the Plan and non-Plan expenditure heads and presented it in terms of revenue and capital classification in line with the Centre’s decision. There was no proposal on levying any new tax. 'Outcome budget' In a first,...