-Down to Earth In a major digression from the current discourse on GM crops, the report claimed that the farmers in India have “enthusiastically embraced” GM seeds For the first time since the five-year plans were scrapped, the NITI Aayog presented the three-year action plan last week. The report, which draws on recommendations made by the Task Force on Agricultural Development and a group of secretaries appointed by PM Modi at...

-The Indian Express Demonetisation: The “pipeline” demonetised collections, according to these officials, include banned notes lying with citizens in Nepal as deliberations between the RBI and the Nepal Rashtra Bank (NRB) for the exchange of such notes did not fructify. New Delhi: On a day when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the data for collected demonetised currency, top RBI officials told The Indian Express that the figure could creep closer...

-Livemint.com State’s response to organised violence in India often hinges on a political cost-benefit analysis Days before the verdict in rape case against Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, his supporters started gathering in Panchkula. A lot of violence could have been prevented by not letting them come there. Why did the government allow this? The Dera is hardly a benign spiritual organisation. It holds significant political clout and openly declares support...

-Livemint.com RBI annual report estimates value of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes returned was Rs 15.28 trillion against Rs 15.44 trillion in circulation before demonetisation Mumbai: According to Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) annual report released Wednesday, 98.96% of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes (by value) that were invalidated due to the demonetisation exercise had been returned by the end of June. The numbers put to rest one of the big...

-The Indian Express Demonetisation: On digital transactions, too, RBI data shows that the volume of electronic payments, after peaking in December 2016 at 957.50 million transactions compared with 671.49 million in November, has been on a decline. New Delhi: When it launched the currency withdrawal in November, the NDA government had outlined four key objectives of the demonetisation exercise: detection of black money, elimination of fake currency, squeezing funds available for...