-The Indian Express A report, prepared by a Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) committee states that wages under the rural employment guarantee scheme were last aligned to minimum wages in 2009, and that “there is no compelling reason to align MGNREGA and states minimum wages again”. New Delhi: THE PANEL for revision of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has recommended in its final report that there...

-The Hindu Business Line Strengthening of global demand will support domestic economy: RBI Kolkata: The Reserve Bank of India, in its Annual Report 2016-17, has said strengthening external demand will help support the economy, even while favourable domestic conditions are expected to quicken the pace of overall economic activity during the year. Global growth is gaining traction in 2017-18, with the recovery driven primarily by a cyclical upturn in investment, manufacturing and trade,...

-The Hindu Fifty years since the Green Revolution, the architect of the reform highlights the crisis facing Indian agriculture today It is 11 years since agronomist M.S. Swaminathan handed over his recommendations for improving the state of agriculture in India to the former United Progressive Alliance government, at the height of the Vidarbha farmer suicides crisis, but they are still to be implemented. To address the agrarian crisis and farmers’ unrest across...

-Firstpost.com A new directive from the road transportation ministry forbids taxi drivers from picking up drunk passengers, according to a report in The New Indian Express. According to the Motor Vehicles driving regulation 2017: “The driver shall strictly comply with the laws for the time being in force relating to the prohibition on the Consumption of alcohol and drugs and smoking, and also ensure compliance there by the other crew, riders and...

-The Indian Express The failure of populist rural credit schemes stems primarily from poor understanding of farm indebtedness in the first place. From the 1970s, a lot of private investment in tube-well irrigation, farm mechanisation and allied agricultural activities took place with bank credit support. After the establishment of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 1982, institutional credit flows not only accelerated, but also exhibited diversification to fund livestock...