-Down to Earth Farmers are being pushed to suicide amid market shortage   Chilli farmers in Telangana’s Subakkapalli village, Bhopalapalli district, are living their worst nightmare. A new pest, black thrips (Thrips parvispinus), has destroyed over 40 hectares (ha) of standing crop in a matter of months. In Sidduri Ravindra Rao’s farm, the initial signs of the attack were reported in the first week of December last year. He increased the frequency of...

-The Hindu Business Line Experts attribute it to higher cost of providing goods and services and more money under schemes Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) for rural areas is higher than urban areas for four successive months with West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Haryana recording double-digit rural retail inflation in April. These are among the 17 States that witnessed higher retail inflation in rural areas. However, in Karnataka, Kerala,...

-The Hindu What is the Opposition-ruled States’ stand on reduction of value added tax to bring down petrol prices?  The story so far: Petrol is retailing at more than ₹100 per litre across India. While rising crude oil prices have added to the burden, the primary reason behind the steep increase in pump fuel prices over the last few years is the gradually rising Central Government's excise duty component. Currently, for every...

-The Hindu Exponential rise in expenditure on material component, notes study group Hyderabad: Budget cuts for the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee scheme coupled with the administrative changes have resulted in reduced employment through the highly successful rural employment scheme in Telangana in the year 2021-22. Improvement in COVID-19 pandemic situation too has been a major factor. Analysis of three years’ data related to the scheme’s expenditure in Telangana’s 32 districts has revealed...

-The Hindu Business Line Seeks taking necessary action as very large hoardings had taken place The Centre has asked Madhya Pradesh government to “step in to take necessary action” under the Essential Commodities Act after its team found “very large hoardings” of soyabean and mustard seeds in Dewas, Shajapur and Guna districts in excess of the stock limit prescribed under the law. Stressing the need for effective enforcement of the EC Act by...