-Down to Earth Low returns and high risks from alternative crops among reasons past efforts failed, says report The Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP) has recommended promotion of crop diversification, favouring oilseed crops amid the global inflation in oilseeds and vegetable oils prices. Global inflation creates a structural risk as vegetable oils account for about half of India’s agricultural import, subsequently raising the country’s agri-import bill, the commission wrote in its...

-Hindustan Times Unseasonal rains also damaged lemon crops during the flowering stage in several states in January and then, a heatwave while March-April harvesting crimped output. In April, prices leapt to unseen levels, reaching up to ₹200 a kilo. New Delhi: Extreme weather that scientists have linked to climate change has hit output of several crops this year, making fruits and vegetables costlier. The average retail price of tomatoes, a basic ingredient of...

-Newsclick.in Since 2007, the central government has given a meagre Rs 7 to Rs 16 per day to the elderly. Some states have recently announced an increase in entitlements under the old-age pension scheme. For instance, Andhra Pradesh increased the old age pension amount by about Rs 250 to Rs 2500 per month at the beginning of 2022. More recently, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced an increase in the old-age pension...

-The Telegraph Court quashed a Green Tribunal order that had stayed the construction of a resort by the Andhra Pradesh government on the Rushikonda Hills in Visakhapatnam New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the National Green Tribunal is subordinate in its jurisdiction to the high courts, which have a constitutional status. The NGT cannot pass orders contradicting those of the high courts as that would lead to an “anomalous” situation...

Every year in the month of either February or March, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) announces the notified MGNREGA wage rates (i.e., notified daily wage rates for MGNREGA workers) for various states and Union Territories (UTs) for the upcoming financial year. The MGNREGA rates are notified every year based on the increase in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL). Like the previous years, in 2021 too, experts and civil...