-The Hindu Business Line “Join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but do not ignore your internal market and demand. Ninety per cent of our bad export story is domestic challenges, 10 per cent is external environment or external policy,” says Economist Surjit S Bhalla. Seventy-one-year old Bhalla has a tough task ahead — to make New Delhi’s voice louder at the international forums as he is set to take charge...

-The Indian Express A change in definition is expected to improve their ease of doing business and help create more jobs. It has been reported that the government will soon change the way it defines the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). “We will have one meeting and then finalise it (changes to MSME definition),” Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told news agency PTI, adding that extensive changes will be made soon....

-The Indian Express Banerjee, Duflo and Kremer introduced a paradigm shift in approach to alleviating poverty. The Nobel Prize in Economics for 2019 has been awarded to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for “their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”. The approach, popularly known as Randomised Control Trial (RCT), has been the buzzword among development economists for almost two decades. Banerjee, Duflo and Kremer have used this technique (inspired...

-The Indian Express The Mudra Yojana was launched in April 2015 to provide funding to the non-corporate small business sector through various financial institutions like banks, NBFCs and micro finance Institutions (MFIs). The government’s constant refrain has been that its flagship Mudra scheme is an engine for entrepreneurship and employment. A survey by the Labour Ministry, yet to be made public, offers a reality check: just one out of five beneficiaries...

Among the measures announced by the Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on 23rd August, 2019 to arrest economic downturn, the following are noteworthy: * Allow Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) vehicles (which are purchased till 31st March, 2020) to remain operational for the entire period of registration; * Government shall lift the ban on purchase of new vehicles for replacing all old vehicles by its various departments; *...