-Financial Express Among the six states studied by Icrier, Gujarat spends the most on agriculture R&E (0.59%), followed by Bihar (0.50%), Punjab (0.41%), Odisha (0.25%), Uttar Pradesh (0.17%) and Madhya Pradesh (0.24%). The government’s expenditure on agricultural research and extension education services is not only very low but also heavily skewed in favour of crops, even as the dairy sector has a rapidly increasing share in the gross value of output...

-The Hindu Political alignments should not come in the way of defending the fiscal rights of States My fellow Finance Ministers in the States, I hope you will agree that the award of the Finance Commission is vital to State finances. Some of us who met initially at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and later at Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, are worried about the implications of the terms of reference (ToR) of the Finance Commission...

-Business Standard The dilemma regarding reliability is usually the greatest around the release of advance estimates Analysts at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have questioned the numerous revisions in gross domestic product (GDP) data by the statistics office. RBI has said this confuses analysts about the economy. It suggested the Central Statistics Office (CSO) incorporate data on high frequency economic indicators such as commercial vehicles and international air passenger traffic. It should...

-Business Standard Although the rate of cash circulation has surpassed the pre-demonetisation level, it is not in tandem with the rate of economic growth Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across various states are running dry with the present situation reminiscent of demonetisation of high-value currency notes one-and-a-half years back. States, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur and Telangana, have reported shortage of cash at ATMs. A stock-taking analysis submitted by...

-The Financial Express An RBI-backed research by KLEMS India shows that the employment in 27 sectors fell by 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively in the years 2014 and 2015. For a long time, there is a contention that India’s impressive growth story has been devoid of a similar expansion in jobs, with the proponents, on the other hand, calling the theory a hoax. In absence of comprehensive jobs data, India’s actual employment story...