Op-Eds

Loose monetary and fiscal policies can’t be sustained for long and we need comprehensive structural reforms to drive growth The coronavirus death toll in India has crossed 50000 and is still rising though at a declining rate. The growth in daily deaths has slowed from 20% in early April to less than 2% now. The...   Read More

Studies reveal households self-employed in agriculture or engaged in salaried jobs fared better those employed in informal sector. COVID-19 has now started sneaking into the hinterlands whose contexts happen to be drastically different from the large metros where the fight against the virus has mostly been concentrated so far. The emerging dilemma now is whether...   Read More

The country’s demographic future will see peaking and then declining numbers driven by a sharp fertility reduction A new study published in the highly regarded journal The Lancet and prepared by the Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) has shaken up the world of population policy. It argues that while India is destined...   Read More

The NCR-Mumbai route tops in performance. NCAER finds harassment of truck drivers a major hitch across the routes surveyed The Indian economy is going through a difficult phase due to the Covid crisis. Most of the rating agencies have downgraded the economy. And with Covid slowing down the world economy as well it implies that...   Read More

The COVID-19 pandemic is preparing us to adapt to a diverse way of living with positives and major negatives that directly or indirectly affect our mental states A recent study of the impacts of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh was conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)....   Read More

Fall in income and depreciating exchange rate would have a dampening impact on imports demand while rising domestic inflation should have reverse impact. Is a merchandise trade surplus of around USD 0.8 billion in June 2020 a first in 18 years since January 2002 a turning point in India’s trade history?  The NCAER Quarterly Review...   Read More

Given this uncertainty over the reach of PM-KISAN and its targeting the relevance of the scheme needs to be carefully evaluated during this period. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is the first universal basic income-type of scheme targeted towards landed farmers. It was introduced in December 2018 to manage agricultural stress. Initially the...   Read More

The economies of India and China were roughly at par back in 1962 but we have been left far behind China’s recent intrusions at multiple points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh are unquestionably the most serious incidents at the India-China border since 1962. The main events are well known. From around...   Read More

Until a viable vaccine is found finding new ways to cope with the unexpected seems to be our only recourse to brace against the unexpected challenges thrown by the virus When the famous US family therapist Virginia Satir talked about coping with life’s adversities she was unlikely to have had images of a pandemic like...   Read More

To reach self-sufficiency India needs to reduce Chinese imports. But it must do this in a way that does not violate WTO norms The India-China relationship is now at a nadir following border clashes in the Ladakh region. The ‘Boycott China’ war cry reverberates across India. Though it emanates mostly from common people or consumers...   Read More