Vivek's Commentary

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dual impact on inflation, causing both deflationary and inflationary pressures globally. Lockdowns initially led to a decline in demand, causing deflationary pressure. However, as countries lifted restrictions, demand increased but supply chains were disrupted, leading to supply-side inflationary pressure. But response to that inflationary pressure was traditional: increase the interest rate. Central bank across many countries increases the interest rate to tackle the inflation. The given monetary policy response to supply driven inflation is questionable. It is questionable as it can further disrupt the supply side, making banks uncomfortable and resulting in unchanged inflation rates with volatile financial institutions. This is exemplified by the Fed's interest rate increase. In the context of India, with inflationary pressures and global monetary policy tightening, coordination between monetary and fiscal policies will be essential for sustainabl...

Despite the efforts of both the federal and state governments to prevent underage marriage, West Bengal has a high rate of underage marriage. Marriages from the previous three years are counted in both NFHS-4 and NFHS-5. For NFHS-4 (2015-16), women who married after 2012 are considered, and for NFHS-5 (2019-21), women who married after 2016 are included. West Bengal had roughly 27.4% (weighted by sampling weight) underage marriages (marriages occurred at an age less than 18) for NFHS-5 in 2016. In 2012, it was 30.19% for NFHS-4. Within the provided time period, Manipur (from 8.03% to 10.6%) and Tripura (from 26.22% to 26.23%) witness a rise. District level Spatial Mapping of Early Age Marriages Proportion indicates that the proportion of early age marriages is dropping in the South and West, but remains high in the East and North East. The kernel density plot for age at marriage in the last three years shows that the peak for India is on the right side of the 18-year line, however for ...