-The Indian Express While the total taxpayer base grew at an average rate of about 7.9 per cent a year, individual taxpayers recorded an average annual growth rate of 8.2 per cent in these five years, inching up from 94 per cent in AY 2011-12 to 94.9 per cent in AY 2016-17, according to official data. New Delhi: Even as the country’s total taxpayer base increased to 6.41 crore in assessment year...

-TheWire.in Surjit Bhalla, who draws on CMIE’s database and EPFO data, notes that job creation in 2017 was likely 15 million. New Delhi: The head of the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE) has accused economist Surjit Bhalla, who is a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC), of distorting and “dishonestly presenting” its nationwide employment survey to claim that India created 15 million jobs in 2017. The CMIE does...

-TheWire.in While the announcement and achievement are significant, it must be noted that electrification of villages does not translate into electrification of households and is certainly no guarantee for power availability. New Delhi: After missing the initial deadline of May 2017, the Narendra Modi government announced on Sunday morning that the electrification of all inhabited villages in India has been completed. While the announcement and achievement are significant, it is still largely symbolic...

-Livemint.com All Indian villages now have access to electricity. The last village to be brought on the national power grid was Leisang village in the Senapati district of Manipur at 5.30pm today New Delhi: All Indian villages now have access to electricity. The last village to be brought on the national power grid was Leisang village in the Senapati district of Manipur at 5.30pm on Saturday. With the electricity now reaching all villages...

-The Indian Express The decision puts to an end a long-drawn disagreement between Maneka and NITI Aayog, with the former batting for packaged nutrients and the latter wanting to substitute food with cash given to beneficiaries THRough direct benefit transfer. The National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges has rejected Woman and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi’s longstanding, much-debated proposal to provide packaged nutrients to replace the existing take-home rations across 14 lakh-odd...