Sarath Davala has a strong opinion about public welfare. “The public welfare regime in India,” he says, “is an exercise in futility.” Some $20 billion (or about Rs 1.3 trillion) goes into the PDS for providing grain to the
Pahle India Foundation (PIF) has suggested that finance minister Arun Jaitley should take cognizance of some of the possible negative effects of demonetization and take steps to minimize its negative impacts and enhance the adoption of digital cur
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will create a common Indian market, improve tax compliance and governance, and boost investment and growth; it is also a bold new experiment in the governance of India’s cooperative federalism, said the
New estimates of labour migration in India have revealed that inter-state labour mobility is significantly higher than previous estimates, said the Economic Survey 2016
Human-rights defenders, lawyers and academicians trying to bring justice to the victims of violence in Chhattisgarh – a state hit by insurgency and counter-insurgency – are facing intimidation and harassment. They are the targets of
Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said that post demonetisation, once the cash supply is replenished, which is likely to
The Universal Basic Income as an alternative to the various social welfare schemes to reduce poverty was advocated in the Economic Survey 2016-17 tabled in parlia
India is one of the countries most affected by the US’ use of anti-dumping (AD) measures at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a recent review of US’ trade policy reveals. The US remains an “active user&rdq
Demonetisation has had some intended and many strange and unintended consequences. It appears that the zeal to reform the economy post-demonetisation has permeated to the general public, which has led to a mushroom growth of tax experts. Currently
Before one takes a call on whether or not India should go down the universal basic income (UBI) route, some myths about the UBI need to be addressed. A universal basic income is an unconditional, regular, payment by the government to every individ
From Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram to corporate talkshop Davos, it’s creating a buzz everywhere. If nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come, then people in more and more countries are likely to start getting free pay c
India Post has launched pilot operations of its payments bank – India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) – in Raipur, Chhattisgarh and Ranchi, Jharkhand on Monday. There are over 1,54,882 post offices across India, of which 1,39,
Elections to the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is the country’s richest civic body, will be held in February and political observers are expecting a split verdict. The reason: A split between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiy
Universal basic income transfers for the poor are likely to be introduced only on a pilot basis but low-cost housing could get a bigger boost, said HDFC bank in its budget expectations. The budget will be presented
Out of the 1,145 candidates who are in the fray in Punjab assembly election, 100 candidates (9%) have declared criminal cases against them, showed an analysis carried out by Punjab Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The rural development department has been given a target to complete 33 lakh houses in 2016-17, which include houses that were taken up under the Indira AwaasYojana (IAY) and were incomplete on April 1, 2016, s
The tickets of online lotteries were sold till the last moment before the draw. No sales report was generated before the draw, said the CAG in a report on the Mizoram state lotteries. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report
At a time when we are thrilled at the thought of the arrival of hyperloop transportation technology enabling high-speed travel inside a partially vacuum tube and introduction of the bullet trains, our conventional trains and the passenger safety a
The NHRC, however, has steadily become more busy. From 496 complaints it received in 1993-94, in 2015-16, the commission registered more than one lakh cases of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. The moot question is whether th
The National Commission of Women (NCW) has issued notice to the Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav for his explicit remark on women. While addressing a public gathering in Patna on January 24, Yadav reportedly said, “Hon
