Opinion: Bornali Bhandari and Laxmi Joshi. Small farmers lack access to tools, as the tractor-dominated farm machinery sector suffers from demand, supply constraints India is simply not producing the sort of farm machinery that our small and marginal farmers want or can readily use at a price which appeals to them. Farm machinery comprises equipment... Read More
Eve-teasing leads to restrictions on women’s mobility Walking through a rural market in Myanmar recently I was shocked to see it dominated by women vendors and buyers. In rural Indian markets particularly in the north women vendors are few and shoppers are frequently accompanied by men. The India Human Development Survey (IHDS) of over 42000... Read More
The business sentiment in the country fell by 16 per cent in January over the previous quarter says a survey by economic think-tank NCAER. Prior to this the N-BCI had risen consecutively for two quarters in July (2.2 per cent) and October 2016 (7.2 per cent) on a q-o-q basis the National Council of Applied... Read More
A good monsoon in 2016 helped in achieving record Kharif crops output and India is set to replicate the performance in Rabi or winter sown crops too said a study by economic thinktank NCAER. As per the NCAER's report on the shortterm agricultural outlook for the 2017 Rabi season Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture... Read More
According to a recent report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) India and Pakistan have the lowest rates of women’s labour force participation in Asia in sharp contrast to Nepal Vietnam Laos and Cambodia that have the highest with richer nations like Singapore Malaysia and Indonesia falling in between. Moreover even this low rate of... Read More
After RBI and IMF economic thinktank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has lowered the country's growth forecast to 6.9 per cent for the current fiscal on account of demonetisation. A few days before demonetisation was announced NCAER had projected a growth rate of 7.6 per cent for 2016-17. "The removal of the legal... Read More
NEW DELHI: After RBI and IMF economic thinktank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has lowered the country's growth forecast to 6.9 per cent for the current fiscal on account of demonetisation. A few days before demonetisation was announced NCAER had projected a growth rate of 7.6 per cent for 2016-17. "The removal of... Read More
The idea of a Universal Basic Income has emerged in India’s Economic Survey 2016–17. Will UBI be the most significant economic outcome for the poor in recent times? Does the recently released Economic Survey evoke the jingling sound of falling coins in your ears? On the face of it the flagship annual document of... Read More
The welfare challenge lies in providing assistance to needy households to ensure adequate diets without creating conditions in which they opt for inferior diets that are too heavy on cereals With the Kerala government’s decision to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from April the whole country will be covered by the legislation. However... Read More
Former finance secretary Vijay Kelkar on Friday advocated a single rate for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as that would it simpler to administer. The GST Council has already decided on the four-rate structure for the indirect tax regime besides a cess. Giving an example he said it was better to first build a... Read More
Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan today said demonetisation in-principle was a good move to eliminate black money but in terms of consequences it did not work. Noting that there is a structural issue in policy making he said policy is made by politicians and executed by the administrative system and policy making should be flexible... Read More