-PTI The SIT was set up on the orders of the Supreme Court in 2014 through a government notification to suggest methods to curb black money in the economy. The Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team on black money is answerable under the RTI Act, the Central Information Commission has held. Bringing SIT under the RTI Act, Information Commissioner Bimal Julka said every action of the government must be actuated in...

-The Indian Express In all, the 42 RRBs have sanctioned Stand Up India loans to 536 people — 97 under the SC head, 32 in the ST category and 407 general category women. Three RRBs have not sanctioned a single such loan to general category women. Every bank has been told that it will be your responsibility to ensure that wherever you have a branch, you have to give loans to two...

-The Indian Express Employment prospects have been the biggest cause of worry for respondents, with sentiment plunging further into the pessimistic zone; the outlook on employment has also weakened in the last two rounds. Mumbai: A SERIES of surveys undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have indicated that more people see consumer confidence declining, business sentiment in manufacturing dipping, inflation on the rise and growth sliding. The findings are in...

-The Hindu Over the years we have lost over a lakh varieties of native rice. One district in Odisha is rediscovering some of them It is a balmy winter morning when I meet Kamli Bataraa, an ebullient Adivasi farmer, at her home in Belugan, in southern Odisha’s Koraput district. There is a hum across the village from the threshing of just-harvested paddy. When I ask Kamli about the rice varieties she grows,...

-Hindustan Times India’s economic growth slumped to 5.7% in April-June quarter, which experts attribute to demonetisation that sucked out 86% of the currency in circulation from a largely cash-reliant economy. The government’s expected measures to revive a stuttering economy could mainly target the MSME sector and involve a re-look at public-private project norms to boost investment without breaching its fiscal deficit target for the year, officials involved in the process told HT. Besides,...