-Firstpost.com The battle for the rural heartland has commenced in full earnest.  Even though the two main opposition parties are not officially behind the strike called by farmers, their support and muscle is in full evidence. Surprisingly, the Shiv Sena – an alliance partner of the present government -- has also supported the agitation. Yesterday, milk and vegetables had to be brought into some of Maharashtra’s cities under police escort.  The shrill...

-Livemint.com Maharashtra farmers continue with their protests despite assurance from chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of a debt waiver by October New Delhi: The fifth day of the strike by protesting farmers in Maharashtra on Monday witnessed unprecedented visuals of milk tankers being ferried to state capital Mumbai under heavy police cover. Not long ago, before the monsoons arrived last year, rail wagons transporting water to severely drought-hit districts in the state were...

-Livemint.com Skill development ministry, led by Rajiv Pratap Rudy, has refused to spell out a new number that the government and its ministries will chase New Delhi: The government has abandoned its goal of training 500 million people in new skills by 2022, in a clear shift in strategy. Skill development ministry officials, at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, also refused to spell out a new number that the Union...

-Livemint.com At some 200-plus tur procurement centres in Maharashtra, where Nafed had agreed to purchase the crop till 31 May, the desperation of thousands of farmers represent all that is wrong with government intervention in the agriculture market Wardha, Hinganghat (Vidarbha): Santosh Borkute, a cotton and tur cultivator in Amla village of Wardha district in Vidarbha region, has learned from Marathi newspapers that the Narendra Modi government has completed three years in...

-Livemint.com Fiscal 2017 marks the fifth straight year when production of horticulture crop surpassed that of foodgrains New Delhi: Latest numbers from the agriculture ministry released on Tuesday showed that production of horticulture crops like fruits and vegetables touched a record high of 295 million tonnes in 2016-17. Apart from being higher than foodgrain production estimated at 273 million tonnes during this period—another record i.e. 2016-17 marks the fifth straight year when...