If someone is a rural male, what occupation would he prefer? A rational person might say that depending on the highest prevailing daily wage rate in a particular occupation (which is subject to seasonal variation) vis-à-vis the rest, he will make his choice.   An exercise undertaken by the Inclusive Media for Change team based on the latest available month-wise wage data of rural men shows that there is a seasonal variation...

-The Hindu Small farmers are getting only 30-40% of loans meant for the sector, says RBI report New Delhi: The small and marginal farmers are missing out on the bulk of agricultural credit, as per information provided by the Reserve Bank of India, which showed they are receiving only 30-40% of loans meant for the sector. As per a report submitted by the RBI to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in response...

-Business Standard Over the past four years, through its twin policies of Jan Dhan Yojana and demonetisation, the govt has taken necessary steps to expand banking services substantially. Mumbai: People’s demand for cash continues to head northwards compared to pre-demonetisation levels despite the frequency of digital transactions going up and a substantial increase in bank deposits since November 2016. Currency with the public (CwP), or people’s demand for cash or currency, is 7...

-The Indian Express Among private banks, ICICI Bank, whose MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar is facing allegations of conflict of interest while sanctioning loans to the Videocon Group, topped the NPA table with Rs 54,063 crore in bad  loans. Mumbai: Data over the last five years shows that private banks have been steadily accumulating bad loans, with a 450 per cent rise in gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of these banks — from...

-Business Standard The dilemma regarding reliability is usually the greatest around the release of advance estimates Analysts at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have questioned the numerous revisions in gross domestic product (GDP) data by the statistics office. RBI has said this confuses analysts about the economy. It suggested the Central Statistics Office (CSO) incorporate data on high frequency economic indicators such as commercial vehicles and international air passenger traffic. It should...