-The Indian Express Government has an opportunity to enhance use of social audit to monitor schemes In contrast to its rhetoric, the current government’s record on transparency, accountability, and citizen participation has been uninspiring. Even essential laws such as the Lok Pal and the Whistle Blower Protection Act are yet to be operationalised. However, recent developments on social audits, the conduct of which actually finds a place in the BJP’s 2014...

-Scroll.in As the Centre looks to modify the rules on cattle trade, it would do well to consult experts about how the changes would affect farmers. With the government’s assurance to the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it would suspend implementation of new regulations on cattle trade, the nation’s cows, bullocks, bulls and buffaloes are back on the front page. The new rules, notified in May, had been greeted by vociferous...

-TheWire.in While this is likely a side-effect of demonetisation, more research is needed to unpack how India’s unemployment rate fell in January-April 2017. New Delhi: The Modi government’s demonetisation decision may have resulted in the loss of roughly 1.5 million jobs, according to new survey data put out by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). CMIE’s data is based on the result of consecutive waves of household surveys performed from January 2016...

Apart from gross domestic product (GDP) and gross value added (GVA), another indicator which shows whether an economy is thriving or stagnating is the growth in bank credit. Credit is a critical input in the production of goods and services. It is generally the case that during prosperous times, economic actors, who are engaged in different sectors or in various industry, take up bank loans to invest. The provisional data...

-PTI CVC Commissioner says bankers need have no fear if their decisions are bonafide New Delhi: The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is supervising CBI's probe in 10 top bank fraud cases, including one involving fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, and says bankers need have no fear if their decisions are bonafide. Vigilance Commissioner T M Bhasin told PTI that bankers need to "muster courage" to recover their money individually or collectively from defaulters. His assertion...