-The Hindu There are many indices of proof that seriously contradict the tall claims of employment generation in India Reports on and the visuals of the recent agitations by railway job applicants reveal a widespread problem of massive job insecurity among India’s youth. Alarming figures of unemployment have been recurrent even before the huge dislocation unleashed by lockdowns imposed in 2020-21 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much before the pandemic,...

-The Hindu “Economic conditions continued to improve through November on the back of the uptick in agriculture and manufacturing,” RBI officials say in an article in the central bank’s monthly bulletin. There is now more evidence to show that the Indian economy “is pulling out of COVID-19’s deep abyss and is reflating” at a pace that beats most predictions, RBI officials, including Deputy Governor Michael Patra, said in an article in the...

-Scroll.in The unprecedented reversal comes after 15 years of steady progress by India in reducing infant deaths On November 8, 2016, the Indian government undertook a drastic policy decision, choosing to ban high value currency notes in circulation. Overnight, 86% of India’s currency became worthless, throwing live and livelihoods in disarray. Now new research is pointing to the widespread impact this dislocation might have had on human development. A new paper by economists...

-OutlookIndia.com With the farm bills, The BJP is not so much conducting an experiment as it is following a predictable agenda of right-wing accumulation by dislocation and obfuscation. For the last three weeks, thousands of peasants and their supporters have blockaded roads and rails and marched on government buildings in Punjab, Haryana and elsewhere in north India. This is in response to the BJP government's rushed passing of three controversial farm bills...

-The Hindu The relief measures do not seem to be commensurate with the economic disruption caused by the lockdown How does India compare in the quantity and quality of its COVID-19 response to other developing countries? Here we extend our earlier analysis of India’s fiscal response (The Hindu online, “India must enhance fiscal support for COVID-19 relief and rebuilding”, April 18, 2020) drawing on the International Monetary Fund Policy Tracker, the COVID-19...