-Hindustan Times With little transparency on how such deaths are investigated, and new rules relaxing how clinical trials are conducted in India, this data could be a poor estimate, said experts. Mumbai: At least 1,100 people who took part in clinical trials over the past four years have died, and 88 of these deaths were caused by direct side effects of the trials, the health ministry told the Rajya Sabha last week. But,...

-The Hindu India has no industrial policy or employment strategy to ride the wave of its demographic dividend Job creation has slowed since 2011-12, the year of the last published National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) labour force survey. I used Labour Bureau annual survey (2015-16) data and Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. (CMIE) data (post-2016), which has a sample size larger than the NSSO labour force surveys, to reach this...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Thinking beyond “rain basera”, the ordinary shelters for the homeless, Delhi Government is now working on a proposal to set up working men’s hostels. Though at a conceptual stage, the hostels would provide dedicated beds to the working class in a dormitory with the provision of a community kitchen and recreational activities at a monthly rent of up to Rs 1,000, said sources. The hostels would be...

-The Indian Express Government’s claim that structural changes to the economy are paying off, and that is being used to give back to the people, is problematic. The Interim Union Budget 2019 is no less than a full budget with changes in taxation and announcement of lucrative schemes for various sections of the population. The recent losses in three major assembly elections rang alarm bells for the ruling dispensation. With the...

-The Hindu There needs to be robust infrastructure for official statistics so that Governments do not suppress inconvenient truths Over the past two weeks, headlines have focussed on declining employment between 2011-12 and 2016-17; loss of jobs under the National Democratic Alliance Government, particularly post-demonetisation; and the Government’s refusal to release a report using the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) documenting this decline, leading to resignations of two members of the National...