-The Times of India     Attempt to muzzle newspapers by withdrawing advertising for critical news coverage A new report by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN) has strongly condemned "soft censorship" by governments and regulators as a "very serious threat to media independence and the very viability of media companies". WAN, which is the umbrella organization of newspapers representing more than 18,000 publications and 15,000 online sites in 120 countries...

-The Hindu Business Line   Loan write-offs will become redundant if we have a robust crop insurance system The Chief Minister of residual Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu may have bought time in implementing his lavish pre-poll promise of waiving ₹54,000 crore worth of farm loans. The decision to appoint an expert committee to recommend guidelines on the waiver may well be a ploy to defer - even soften - the impact of...

-The Business Standard   Officials said some talk had already started on appointing only senior sectoral advisers instead of full-time members The Narendra Modi government is looking for an adviser in the Planning Commission, even as the deputy chairman is yet to be appointed, perhaps a sign of the current priorities. 'The Commission's role might be truncated to an advisory body alone. The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) might also see its role...

-The Hindu   The Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, recently said he "supports" higher taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. But even if he were to substantially increase the tax rates, will it make cigarettes and other tobacco products very expensive and hence reduce consumption? In the case of India, as per the current taxation practices, increasing the tax component is quite unlikely to reduce consumption drastically. This is unlike the...

-The Times of India   AHMEDABAD: Consumers are having a grand time gobbling up succulent mangoes. Not just because of the fall in wholesale market price, but also because now some enterprising farmers in Saurashtra are bypassing market yards and taking their produce directly to the consumer by selling them at the roadside. Farmers say that not only do they get low prices in the market yard, but are also forced to pay...