-The Hindu While opening up the coal mining sector, the govt. must protect the interests of Coal India The Centre’s decision to liberalise norms for entry into coal mining and relax regulations on mining and selling coal in the country is significant in many respects. Amendments to two legacy Acts through the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday will free the sector from restrictions that were inhibiting...

-The Indian Express Rice exporters alone are said to be stuck with receivables of Rs 800-900 crore against shipments made till June 2019. A major hit to India from the uncertainty triggered by the assassination of Iran’s most powerful military commander could be to its multi-billion dollar basmati rice export industry. The Islamic republic accounted for $1.56 billion (Rs 10,790.02 crore) out of India’s total $4.71 billion (Rs 32,804.30 crore) worth of...

-The Hindu Even better performing States have not fared well in achieving gender equality The NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals Index for 2019, released on Monday, does not reveal any surprising information. The South’s Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are joined by Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa as the best performers while the northern/north-central and north-eastern States have been laggardly in achieving the U.N.-mandated goals by 2030. Poor performers...

-The Hindu Business Line Switching off internet services as per government orders hurts dependent businesses to the tune of Rs. 2.45 crore per hour, according to Telecom companies. A telecom industry association representative said, “It is estimated that the loss has increased to Rs. 2.45 crore per hour by the end of 2019 as the dependence of various services on internet has significantly increased.” Telecom companies have to abide by the government orders...

-The Hindu The government has to garner resources and give a boost to the economy by increasing its investments The Centre and the States are so short of resources that their fiscal deficit is burgeoning. The Prime Minister, at a function of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and industry of India recently, was optimistic but the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor was less positive, admitting that the country’s economic problems are...