-The Telegraph No other state has ever been denied funds for such a long period under the scheme, which provides for up to 100 days of paid, unskilled work to every rural household in a year New Delhi: The Centre’s decision to stop funds to Bengal under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act will have denied job opportunities to 30 lakh rural families in the state this year, a study...

-Hindustan Times A lemon inflation has taken hold, according to traders, because an unusually early summer and heatwaves have spiked demand. The crop this year was also smaller in some states, according to traders. The ‘market for lemons’ is hot. Prices of the essential summer citrus fruit have risen to unseen levels in the country, reaching up to ₹200 a kg in Rajkot on Saturday, leaving consumers angry and shocked. Traders said they...

-Newsclick.in It is the first significant reverse suffered by the government, which is promoting neoliberalism at breakneck speed. The announcement of the repeal of the three farm laws almost a year after farmers launched a massive movement against the Narendra Modi government’s contentious decision in which 671 protesters lost their lives is a setback to the neoliberal move, which intended to further corporate encroachment in agriculture. The organisations leading the struggle have argued...

-Newsclick.in GDP recovery from the lockdown-induced abyss is accompanied by significant labour displacement and squeeze on wages, which will impact aggregate demand. Ministers from Narendra Modi to Nirmala Sitharaman are talking about a recovery of the Indian economy from the pandemic-induced crisis. Even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which estimated the second quarter GDP growth to have been -8.6%, has seen signs of recovery in October. Of course, there had to be...

-Hindustan Times Unfortunately, there is no high frequency income or consumption data for the Indian economy. What we do have is monthly data for rural wages, which is available until June 2019. On Wednesday, media reports said that India’s leading biscuit-maker Parle Products Private Limited could cut up to 10,000 jobs as “slowing economic growth and falling demand in the rural heartland could cause production cuts”. The company’s flagship brand Parle-G...