-The Indian Express The research shows that India’s mobile phone gender gap - 33 per cent - is among the highest in the world, surpassing several countries with comparable incomes, development levels, and mobile phone costs. New Delhi:  Apart from economic constraints, social barriers like the level of education, marital status and the lack of empowerment prevent women’s access to mobile technology in India, suggests a study by the Harvard Kennedy School. The...

-TheWire.in The new series GDP data has been mostly replaced with corporate financial data for estimating manufacturing value-added, resulting in manufacturing assuming a higher share in India’s GDP and growing at a faster rate compared to the older series. New Delhi: Does the new method by which India calculates GDP (gross domestic product) data overestimate manufacturing output? This apprehension has been flagged by a key member of the Reserve Bank of India’s...

-TheWire.in Agricultural experts say that large corporations are being given 'agricultural' loans at cheaper interest rates and with easier regulations in the name of farmers. New Delhi: Government banks handed out Rs 58,561 crore to 615 accounts in agricultural loans in the year 2016. On average, each account has been given over Rs 95 crore in agricultural loans. This information was revealed by the Reserve Bank of India in response to a Right...

-Livemint.com The present government has incentivized employers to comply with the EPF law by making their contribution for three years to expand formal sector employment Surjit Bhalla and Tirtha Das’ (B-D, hereafter) background paper, titled All You Wanted To Know About Jobs In India, But Were Afraid To Ask, is now available on the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) website (goo.gl/Y5CLtF)—a welcome initiative. It claims: “While there are no official employment...

-PTI New Delhi: The government said demonetisation of high-value currency notes in November 2016 achieved the objectives “quite substantially” even as the Reserve Bank of India reported most of the demonetised currency was back with the banks. The RBI annual report released on Wednesday said 99.3% of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 junked notes came back to banks. “I think demonetisation has achieved its objective quite substantially,” economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra...