-The Hindu Business Line Urban-rural wage gap highest in the North-East and northern States New Delhi: That rural employment, particularly in the informal sector, will fetch lower incomes, does not always hold true. In fact, hired workers in the informal sector in rural Gujarat earned twice as much as their counterparts in urban areas, a recent report of the National Sample Survey Organisation show. Hired workers in rural Gujarat’s informal sectors earned about...

-The Hindu It’s complex than elsewhere both in terms of number of rates and jurisdictions The form of Goods and Services Tax being implemented from July 1 is uniquely Indian, according to former Planning Commission member and former Chairman of the National Statistical Commission Pronab Sen. In an interview to The Hindu, he says the indirect tax regime will make it easier to start a new company, but increases complexity for those...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today directly linked the slowdown in growth to demonetisation, pointed out that private investments had almost dried up and expressed deep concern over a jobs crunch. The most authoritative Opposition voice on the economy was speaking at the Congress Working Committee meeting, five months after describing demonetisation as "organised loot and legalised plunder" and warning that growth would be severely affected. "India's GDP numbers...

-Livemint.com The BJP government, which came to power on the promise of creating 20 million jobs per year, has not yet recognized the gravity of the situation The Central Statistical Office (CSO) has released the full-year growth estimates for 2016-17. These had been much awaited given the uncertainty over the impact of demonetization. These were on expected lines, with fourth quarter growth in gross value added (GVA) in 2016-17 declining to 5.6%...

-The Hindu Kodenchery Station police are scripting stories of compassion Kozhikode: Two underprivileged persons from the Kodenchery station limits will soon have their own house, thanks to the compassion of a group of police officers from the station. Work is on in full swing to complete construction of the houses. “Malar, a rubber tapper from Tamil Nadu, has been living at Theyyappara under a plastic-thatched roof. The house we completed with the support...