-The Indian Express Indian statistical system can withstand political pressures. Legislation and public scrutiny can strengthen it further. One unfortunate fallout of the recent controversy regarding the non-publication of the labour force survey report by the National Sample Survey Organisation has Been the questions raised on the autonomy and independence of the Indian official statistical system. As reported in this newspaper, the possibility of junking the survey report in favour of...

-The Hindu Business Line Implementation issues in Fasal Bima Yojana need to be addressed A BusinessLine series from perennially drought-prone Jalna and Parbhani districts in Maharashtra has brought to the fore implementation lapses in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Farmers have not Been compensated for crop damage, owing to multiple factors. Chief among these is irregularities in crop cutting experiments. The CCEs are meant to be carried in the presence...

-The Hindu Business Line Pune: Noticing that some banks had diverted the first instalment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme to farmers’ loan accounts, the Maharashtra government has instructed banks to return the money to farmers. Speaking to BusinessLine, Maharashtra’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Suhas Diwase, said that banks that had diverted the PM-Kisan instalment to farmers’ loan accounts have reversed the transactions after the government’s instructions: “There are strict instructions...

-Newsclick.in New GDP numbers show the deep agrarian crisis and an economy in doldrums, while unemployment continues to grow. Advance estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the current year 2018-19, and estimates for the third quarter (Sept-Dec 2018) show unmistakeable signs of a slowing economy, despite the flawed method of calculating these estimates. The country’s economy will grow by 7% in the current year which will end this March. Last year...

-The Hindu Govt. cuts FY19 growth estimate to 7%; Q3 growth estimated at six-quarter low; agriculture, manufacturing contribute to slowdown GDP growth slowed for the third consecutive quarter in the October-December 2018 period, according to data released on Thursday. Growth fell to 6.6% in the third quarter, the lowest in the last six quarters. The slowdown was led by agriculture, which is estimated to grow at 2.7%, against the earlier estimate of 3.8%. Data...