-The Telegraph The report prepared by the United Nations states that more men die by suicide, although more women attempt to take their own lives Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death globally. According to the Human Development Report 2021/22, more than seven lakh people die by suicide every year. Worryingly, the world’s burden of suicide mortality is borne by low and middle-income countries — over 77 per cent —...

-The Hindu The one lever that the government could have pulled as it watched private investment decline was to step up public investment In a meeting held with the country’s corporate leaders on September 15, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman drew attention to an important aspect of the economy today. She rightly flagged concerns about sluggish corporate investment, despite the government’s business-friendly stance, including a reduction in the corporate tax. The reduction, effected...

-India Water Portal NREGA has emerged as a go-to scheme for water conservation in tribal areas leading to higher irrigation coverage and thus augmenting agricultural production Out of India’s total population of 1210.19 million, 104 million, i.e., 8.6% are tribal (Census, 2011), India has one of the highest diversity among the tribes in the world. Broadly tribal inhabit two distinct geographical areas – the Central Indian Tribal Belt and the North-East. About...

-The Telegraph The airbrushing of the Indian economy is damaging The latest Monthly Economic Review from the ministry of finance gives the reader a great deal of comfort by indicating that all is well with the Indian economy. If there is any cause for concern at all, it is from external economic and political shocks: events like the Federal Reserve in the United States of America raising interest rates, or Russia invading...

Contrary to the rising economic distress on the ground since the last few years, the official press release related to the fourth Annual Report on the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) at first glance seems to give a rosy picture about the employment situation in India.  Defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force, the unemployment rate in usual status (principal activity status + subsidiary economic activity status)...