-TheCitizen.in Visuals of cops in plainclothes shoot unarmed protesters in Thoothukudu NEW DELHI: “For those who are not yet aware. These are our Police commandos in civil dress shooting at civilians using self loaded rifle which are used to neutralise terrorist. These civilians had placards to defend themselves. This is called premeditated murder,” writes Antony Rubin, a Chennai based activist. A chilling photograph showing a policeman, dressed in plain clothes, taking aim...

-Economic and Political Weekly The central Government’s flagship programme to provide free liquefied petroleum gas connections has been in operation for two years, providing more than 3.5 crore free LPG connections to poor women. This much-needed scheme is a major step to reduce indoor air pollution, drudgery faced by women, and one that promises to extend LPG access. However, little is known about the progress of the scheme. Has it led...

-The Tribune Contract farming is a much-needed vehicle to bring new crops, technologies, and markets to farmers. However, the new model Act 2018 opens up agricultural markets to contracting agencies without adequate safeguards for farmers. The first attempt at reforms in agricultural markets was made by the union Government with the design of a model Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act in 2003 which provided for new market channels for farmers and...

-National Herald A recent CMS study in 13 states revealed that corruption has not only increased during Modi’s tenure, but Indians also believe the PM is not serious about fighting corruption Positioning himself as the “Chowkidar” of the wealth of the nation, Narendra Modi had famously said “Na khaunga, na khane dunga” after becoming Prime Minister. But all his promises to curb corruption stand exposed, as a recently-conducted study proves. The study...

-Livemint.com India needs to defend policies that make agriculture remunerative and stand by its poor at this stage of development In an attempt to combat rural distress, the Union budget announced this year by finance minister Arun Jaitley promised a new deal to farmers—minimum support prices (MSP) that would be 150% of the cost of production. The Government is expected to announce the first set of support prices under the new policy in...