Although containing fake notes in circulation was one of the objectives behind demonetisation when it was undertaken in 2016, recent data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reveals that fake counterparts of some denominations grew during 2017-18 vis-à-vis the previous year. The recently released Annual Report for 2017-18 of the RBI shows that the total number of pieces of counterfeit notes of Rs. 2000/- denomination, which was detected in the...

-Livemint.com Rural development secretary Amarjeet Sinha on how MGNREGS has evolved since 2006 to result in income, acreage, water tables, productivity and fodder availability Agrarian distress and rural distress are terms used interchangeably, but the rural economy today is very different from what it was many years ago, given the diversification of rural incomes and hence incorrect to think one means the other, says Amarjeet Sinha, secretary, ministry of rural development. In...

-CaravanMagazine.in Nearly a year ago, the government of India constituted a committee of experts chaired by the former Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna to draft a data-protection law for India. Almost immediately, the committee became mired in controversy—it was first criticised for the lack of civil-society representatives among its members, and subsequently for the opacity of its proceedings, and its inefficient public consultation on the data-protection framework. In recent months, the...

-The Hindu Recent Census data appear to inadequately reflect India’s linguistic composition, and are inconsistent with global ideas The story, “Death of Jagmohan, the Elephant”, by Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi, is about the death of an elephant. For a reader, the story may appear to be about a rather “big death”, but what the writer wanted to say was that there are also many “small deaths”. They include the deaths of Dalits...

-NDTV In the pre-budget consultations, Arun Jaitley said that in order to achieve the goal of doubling the farmer's income by 2022, there is need for better storage and marketing facilities for the farmers' produce The Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley said that there is a need to conserve water, incentivize agro processing and promote balanced use of fertilizers in order to ensure higher agriculture productivity. The Finance Minister said that...