-Frontline.in Recently released data from the CSO, which claimed that demonetisation had had no significant impact on the performance of the economy, raise more questions than provide answers. Official data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on the last day of February, which claimed that the national gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 7 per cent in the October-December period, the third quarter of 2016-17, came as a morale booster...

-The Hindu Business Line By trying to appear more women-friendly than is necessary, the law may deter industry from employing women altogether The amendment to the maternity Bill, long overdue, calls for some serious reconsideration due to its skewed philosophy. While the most prominent flaw is its emphasis on employees in the new-age Services Sector, there are several other shortcomings. What is wrong Firstly, the need for expansion of the existing benefit lacks scientific basis....

-The Economic Times blog In every Union Budget presentation, agriculture is given a place of prominence. This is not surprising, given that 50% of India’s population is dependent on agriculture. Budget 2017 was no different. Both the Economic Survey and the Budget speech stressed heavily on improving agricultural infrastructure and augmenting farmer incomes. The key drivers expected to set this off are areas such as investment in irrigation infrastructure, development of mandis...

-Hindustan Times The last few weeks have seen a spate of government notifications making Aadhaar mandatory for receiving the benefits of government programmes. The most recent orders relate to an Aadhaar requirement for children to access schools (even under their fundamental right to education), mid-day meals, supplementary nutrition (ICDS) and scholarships. These directives raise a number of ethical as well as practical questions, besides violating children’s right to education, nutrition and...

-The Hindu The CSO has been consistent with its methods, allowing little room for suspicion of window dressing. Did demonetisation deal a knock-out punch to the Indian economy? Or was it just a mild tap from which it is already recovering? This debate should have been settled with the latest second advance estimates from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which peg FY17 GDP growth at 7.1%. But commentators who believe that the economy...