-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a surprise move unmindful of the huge controversy it had sparked, the Maharashtra government has moved the Supreme Court seeking revival of a provision of law that made it an offence to carry or keep beef at home in the state. More than a year ago, the Bombay high court had doused protests against the beef ban by striking down Section 5D of the Maharashtra...

-The Indian Express They are on the roads and in the fields. Farmers are worried, as are MLAs. 13 years after its anti-cow slaughter Act, Madhya Pradesh struggles with stray cows Nestled along a rocky hillock in Tikamgarh, this small village of about a thousand residents follows a fixed ritual at twilight. Before retiring for the day, the men of Dumbar herd cows wandering in the village’s lanes into a makeshift enclosure,...

-Livemint.com Unlike the dhoti-clad, topi-wearing quintessential ‘kisan’, the new Indian farmer is vocal and tech-savvy New Delhi: In the winter of 1988 when the feisty farmer leader from Uttar Pradesh, Mahendra Singh Tikait, laid siege to Delhi with thousands of cultivators and their cattle literally creating a mess of the boat club lawns, agriculture’s share in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) was about 30%. About three decades later, the farm sector’s share in...

-Livemint.com 2016 recorded the lowest suicides in the farm sector in over two decades, shows data shared by agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh New Delhi: There is little doubt that 2016 was replete with positive data on agriculture sector—a normal monsoon, record production of grains and perishables, and a rebound in the farm sector growth after consecutive years of drought-induced dismal performance. However, this positive data failed to lift farmers’ sentiment because...

-Scroll.in These numbers differ significantly from corresponding figures collected from the previous year. Data collected by the Bureau of Police Research and Development shows as many as 1,211 police stations – about 8% of India’s 15,555 police stations – do not have a functional telephone. The data, which was collected by the bureau for its upcoming annual report on police organisations in India, also shows 260 police stations (1.6%) do not...