-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...
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Agri Ministry wants tax exemption for FPOs
-The Hindu Business Line Women farmers face the brunt; GST adds to their woes New Delhi: The Agriculture Ministry has written to the Finance Ministry seeking income-tax exemption for farmer produce organisations (FPOs), particularly for those that are registered as farmer producer companies (FPO) under the Companies Act. “These FPOs were brought in to negotiate the problems that are faced by cooperative societies. So they are naturally eligible for all the benefits that...
More »Supreme Court curbs on states' land largesse to politicians, bureaucrats -Amit Anand Choudhary
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: State governments may not be able to allot residential plots in cities to serving and former MPs, MLAs, bureaucrats, journalists and judges of their choice by exercising their discretionary power as the Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to frame guidelines for allotting public land at subsidised rates. Expressing concern over state governments' decision to allocate plots to well off people while lakhs of poor people do...
More »99% of scrapped notes back with banks, says RBI report
-The Times of India MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said that Rs 15.28 lakh crore --or 99% of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore demonetised by withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes on November 8, 2016 --has been deposited with banks. The disclosure dashes hopes of the government earning a windfall by extinguishing trillions of rupees worth demonetised currency that has not been returned. In its annual report, the...
More »NITI Aayog's three-year action plan on agriculture raises hope as well as concerns
-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...
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