-Tribune News Service RTI reply indicates 1.5 times jump in profit of insurers in a year Hisar: Insurance companies across the country earned a whopping Rs 15,795 crore as profit in two years from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), according to a reply received under the Right to Information Act. While the farmers’ wait for INCrease in INCome continues, the profit of insurance firms INCreased by one-and-a-half times in just one...

-The Tribune Need to readjust premium to favour farmers Insurance firms, both in the public and private sectors, have reportedly made a killing by offering crop insurance to farmers in about two dozen states. The Tribune reported abnormal gains by a dozen insurance firms through the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY). Insurers reportedly received a gross premium of Rs 22,362 crore under the scheme in 2016-17 and saved huge sums even...

-Livemint.com A partial hike in the MSP on paper was packaged by the govt as three fresh and historic steps for farmers’ welfare Minimum support price (MSP) is a fiction. It is a feel-good fiction. The farmers are free to sell their crop for as much as they wish, but should the prices fall below a minimum level, the government is there to help them. MSP is a sovereign guarantee that the state...

-The Telegraph Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India sees no science in the session, just industry promotion The global food-maker Nestle cancelled a “scientific session” on infant formulas it planned to host for paediatricians in New Delhi on Friday after speakers declined invitations amid concerns the meeting would violate laws on infant food substitutes. Two paediatricians invited to speak at the session — titled “Infant formulas: Paediatricians dilemma” — informed the company they would...

-Hindustan Times There’s no shortage of talent. For over two decades, women have occupied 33% of seats in panchayats and done so well that states like Bihar bumped up their quota to 50%. Exactly 101 years after the 19th Amendment granted American women suffrage, a record 116 women, INCluding the first Muslim, the first Native American and the youngest ever, were voted to the US Congress. India, too, has the highest number...