-Hindustan Times First came demonetisation. Then, as banknotes slowly returned to circulation, a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in the state wrecked the local market for cattle. In Ilyas Khan’s eyes shine the pride of a grand past that give way to the clouds of an uncertain future. Two decades ago, the Thursday cattle market he runs in western Uttar Pradesh’s Banat saw traders troop in from faraway Delhi and Bihar. Today, the...

-Outlook Good monsoon or bad, glut or drought, boom or bust...it’s always fair weather for the range of middlemen who come between the farmer and consumer. An anatomy of the trade. One of the axioms of logic is called the Law of the Excluded Middle. Something has to be eit­her true or false—there’s no middle ground. As we all know, economics works a bit differently. Facts can be fickle, data pliable, and...

-Hindustan Times But the Uttar Pradesh government isn’t panicking yet, and believes it can get things under control with tough measures, including encounters. Lucknow: A petrol pump owner looted; a trader murdered; jewellery shops robbed; a political leader killed; a constable shot; four members of a family -- including two girls -- hacked; a police sub-inspector beaten up; caste clashes erupt. Glance through local newspapers of Uttar Pradesh, and the headlines would be...

-The Indian Express Six people died during the farmer protests in Mandsaur, MP, after which the government announced Rs 1 crore to each of the families. The Indian Express visits their homes to hear their stories — from a new-born who will never see her father to an aunt who asks: “Will we get the money? When?” How money reached them When five protesters died on June 6 in alleged police firing...

-Livemint.com Burden of farm loans has driven many Karnataka farmers into the clutches of moneylenders, who at times charge even by the hour Bengaluru: Naveen Kumar, 40, a small farmer in Hassan district, Karnataka, paid Rs.2,400 as premium (Rs.1,200 per acre) to insure his jowar crop last year. The crop failed after deficient rains. But Kumar was covered—or so he thought. Earlier this year, he received Rs1,600 (Rs800 per acre) as compensation—33% less...