-Livemint.com While CSO’s GDP growth estimates will be a disappointment, it will very likely be explained away soon as the market tries to find new and innovative reasons to extend the rally For a few quarters, take all year-on-year (y-o-y) growth figures about the Indian economy with a pinch of salt. That’s because they will now be boosted due to the favourable effect of a low base. Since demonetisation and the introduction...

-TheWire.in Maharashtra cannot retain its position as a progressive state if health budget cuts become a characteristic part of its budgets. Massive budget cuts and budget under-spending in the social sector have been reported from Maharashtra over the last two years. The state spent as less as 0.49% of its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) on the public health sector in 2017-18. Incidentally, the state also witnessed high malnourishment, rising leprosy cases,...

-Frontline.in The farce being played out in the name of Aadhaar has led to several deaths because it denies the poor their right to food and therefore life. THERE is no doubt that human life is cheap in India, perhaps more so now than ever before. The attacks, atrocities and killings of people from the minority communities and marginalised groups, which have now become so common, are particularly appalling because they reflect...

-The Financial Express The Odisha experience shows that PDS can play a pivotal role in bringing convergence and making India’s two important missions—food and nutrition security—successful in a short time. New Delhi: India’s public distribution system (PDS) is the largest food security programme in the world, which covers nearly 60% of the population and costs Rs 1.45 trillion—close to 1.4% of the national income. PDS has often been criticised for its structure,...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Maharashtra has recorded 1,497 farmer suicides in the six months since the loan waiver was declared in June, official data shows. This is just 4.2% lower than the 1,563 cases reported in the same period last year. In fact, these cases account for 56% of the total 2,662 farmer suicides reported between January and November this year. The roll-out of the waiver was delayed by glitches in the...