-ENS Economic Bureau 'Such waiver would prove counter-productive for the RBI’s measures to clean up bank balance sheets' Mumbai: With Maharashtra also joining the farm loan waiver bandwagon, various state governments are expected to waive off $40 billion, or Rs 2,57,000 crore, of farmers’ loans in the run-up to the 2019 general elections in the country, a global banking group has said. Farm loan waivers will amount to 2 per cent of...

-The Indian Express Aadhaar doesn’t empower people, only the state Ironically, in the week that the UIDAI revealed its draconian face, serving a legal notice to those who exposed flaws in the Aadhaar eco-system, Ajay Pandey (CEO, UIDAI), wrote, “The critics tend to forget that Aadhaar empowers the people, not the state” (‘Criticisms Without Aadhaar’, IE, May 13). However, government data reveals that Pandey is wrong to believe that “Aadhaar empowers...

-The Hindu "India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions of dollars in foreign aid," he said. The Paris climate agreement gives undue advantage to India and China at the cost of U.S interests, President Donald Trump said on Thursday, announcing America’s withdrawal from the pact. “China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants. So we can’t build the plants, but they can, according to this agreement.  India will...

-The Indian Express Between 2013-14 and 2016-17, India’s exports of agricultural commodities have dipped from $43.2 billion to $33.8 billion, even as imports have climbed from $15.5 billion to $25.6 billion Falling exports and rising imports — this has been the story of the country’s agricultural trade over the last three years, notwithstanding the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious Make in India initiative. Between 2013-14 and 2016-17, India’s exports of agricultural commodities have dipped...

-Hindustan Times To begin with, it is imperative that the government and the ruling coalition acknowledge the challenge, and not be dismissive about it. Ambiguous expressions such as “promoting self-employment” do not help. It is difficult to disagree when BJP president Amit Shah says it’s impossible to provide jobs to everyone in a country of 1.25 billion people. It is also equally absurd to agree with him that reports of rising unemployment...