World

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Union Finance Ministry for seeking data from the Debts Recovery Tribunals (DRT) over the amount recovered on the basis of the tribunals' orders and sought an explanation. A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said the ministry could not treat the judicial staff of the DRTs as its subordinates and owed an explanation for calling upon the tribunals to collect such huge data within a short time. "You are treating the judicial staff as if they are your subordinates. We expect an apology from the government. Such extent of collection of data is sought within three days. If you want data to be collected, additional staff as required by DRT should be provided. This will not be tolerated. Some of them are judicial office...

The COVID-19 pandemic-era recession was unlike any other in U.S. history. Beginning in February 2020, the recession quickly reached depths not experienced in roughly a century before abating just as fast—lasting just two months according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. A combination of unprecedented fiscal support, rapid deployment of vaccines, and structural economic resilience all helped jumpstart the swift and enduring U.S. recovery, with the economic expansion now entering its fourth year. As the economy continues to grow, two important characteristics have emerged: (i) the U.S. avoided the deep economic scarring that impacted millions of American households in the last recovery; and (ii) the U.S. recovery has far outpaced most of its G10 peer countries. The prior...