RECENT cases of action against adivasi rights activists, lawyers and intellectuals have shown that demonetisation has become one more tool of State repression. At the start of the demonetisation drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claimed that this measure would strike at the root of the funding to ‘terrorist groups and maoist insurgents”. This claim was further buttressed by unverified police media leak that the ‘maoists’ had stashed rupees seven thousand crores in the jungles and were now forcing villagers and sympathisers to exchange their old notes for new ones.

FIFTY days, that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked of the people, were completed but with no signs of abatement of hardships. These fifty days have brought to light umpteen stories of hardships that the people had to suffer in order to access their hard earned money. These fifty days also witnessed the goalposts of demonetisation shifting continuously. First it started as a measure to combat black money and terrorism. Later it was championed as a necessary step for transition towards a 'cashless society', which yet again was subtly modified to a 'less cash society'.

WITH the passage of the constitutional amendment, it was taken for granted that there would be no further hurdles to the smooth introduction of Goods and Service Tax (GST) from the beginning of the next financial year.  The Central GST (CGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) bills were to be introduced as money bills and passed in Lok Sabha during the winter session of the parliament.  Thereafter the states are to pass the State GST (SGST) bills in their respective legislatures during their budget sessions.  And that would have cleared the deck for GST in the country from April 1.  However, the pa

THE frenzy unleashed by the demonetisation of 1000 and 500 rupee currency notes has entered the third week. The Indian economy is still decelerating and in a sense imploding. The first assessment of the likely impact of the currency debacle on GDP growth has come from AMBIT, who has revised the GDP growth rate for 2016-17 from 6.8 to 3.5 percent. They estimate the growth in the current quarter to be in the negative. I find it difficult to reconcile with such a precipitous fall but, the Indian growth story has been tripped.

THERE has been quite widespread media coverage of the serious drought afflicting large swathes of India – particularly in Maharashtra, Telangana, Rajasthan, Bundelkhand and even Punjab. Many areas have seen two consecutive years of problems arising not only from rainfall deficiency but also serious crop loss owing to unseasonal rain. With nothing to eat for humans or livestock, distress migration from many areas is a very visible phenomenon.