-Hindustan Times The 15th Finance Commission (FC) has to submit its report in October 2019, which will be another important event in the evolution of India’s fiscal federalism framework. The tenure of the Narendra Modi government has seen important changes in India’s fiscal federalism set-up such as the abolition of the Planning Commission (PC) and the roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The 15th Finance Commission (FC) has to submit...

-Livemint.com National Democratic Alliance has revamped the long-running Indira Awaas Yojana housing scheme but India remains a long way from Housing for All The quality of housing is the most visible aspect of poverty. In India’s cities and villages, the poorest almost always live in makeshift or dilapidated homes, which can be bad for their health and hurt their productivity. Governments have long tried to address this through different housing policies, the...

-The Telegraph Call to govt to adopt 'cost-based' control The 30 per cent cap on profit margins imposed by India’s drug pricing authority on 42 anti-cancer drugs will have a limited impact on patients’ expenses because many of these medicines’ prices remain “prohibitive”, a network of patients’ rights groups said on Saturday. The All India Drug Action Network (Aidan) said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority’s cap on profit margins in effect “legitimises” the...

-The Indian Express Congress may be talking to economists and experts. But is it listening to the voter? Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s plan for a “surgical strike on poverty” is built around some key numbers: Rs 12,000, the target minimum monthly INCome for a household; 5 crore households (amounting to 20 per cent of all Indian households); Rs 6,000, their average monthly earning; and therefore, Rs 6,000, the monthly amount required...

  Growth in rural wages not only indicates economic prosperity of the masses, it is also considered important so as to generate effective demand for goods and services, which is produced by various sectors of the economy. When money becomes available in the hands of rural workers due to government spending on programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), it generates demand for commodities. The production of commodities...