-The Hindu The events of the pandemic show how it is the need of the hour to modernise India’s archaic tax laws The word ‘lockdown’, which is Collins Dictionary’s word of the year, sums up the pain that the world underwent in 2020. As a result of the pandemic-induced lockdown, India’s GDP contracted consecutively for two quarters from April to September 2020. Some have gained from the pandemic. India’s super rich only became...

-Press release by Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements dated 23rd September, 2020 ICCFM is a non-partisan national alliance of farmers movements representing 12 farmers' organizations across India based in UP, MP, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Haryana. Bharatiya Kisan Union, Karnataka State Farmers Association, Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangham are among the major farmer movement. As with many other farmers organizations in this country, ICCFM is gravely worried about the anti-farmer bills...

-Down to Earth Instead of putting Punjab farmers at the mercy of big corporates and private players, there is a need to strengthen existing infrastructure The Union government announced three agriculture-related ordinances as part of its novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) relief package — permitting agricultural trade outside the boundaries of market committees, easing regulation and control under the Essential Commodities Act and facilitating contract farming. Out of these, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and...

-The Hindu Business Line In the thick of battling the Covid-19 pandemic, the CPI (M)-ruled Kerala government gathered Opposition parties on a virtual platform to chart out a common course on livelihood issues and the economic crisis that is simultaneously unfolding. Kerala Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac, a trained economist, told BusinessLine that India is facing an attack on economic federalism and there is urgent need for the States to combat...

-The Financial Express NBFCs are at the forefront of financing many of the affected sectors, notably small road transport operators, taxi aggregators, infrastructure contractors, MSMEs, traders etc. After banks wrote to the regulator asking for moratorium on corporate repayments, their non-banking counterparts have sought a three-month moratorium on equated monthly instalment (EMI) payments by their customers as much of the country goes into lockdown mode. Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are also asking...