-Deccan Chronicle Hyderabad: The undue delay in remitting the first installment of loan waiver amount to banks by the Telangana state government has resulted in farmers across the state losing crop insurance benefit for the ongoing kharif season. Reports from Telangana districts confirm that the government did not remit the amount that was promised by it to banks by September 30, the last day for the banks to make adjustments of...

-The Hindu   The national discourse is so superficial that it only talks of foreign direct investment, investment allowance, tax sops and the like which are just about a twentieth to a sixth of the national economy. It did not even notice paragraph 102 in the Union budget speech which is about half of India's economy. Commentators see facts hidden in budgets as the "devil's in the detail." This presumes that only...

-Economic and Political Weekly     Sustained and focused efforts have to be made by the Tamil Nadu state government to provide relief and rehabilitation to the drought affected people of the state. S Rajendran (myrajendran@gmail.com) is with the Department of Economics, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu. Due to the failure of the north-east monsoon in December 2013, Tamil Nadu is witnessing drought like conditions this year, leading to poor agricultural productivity, rural distress,...

-The Telegraph   Supaul: A college graduate hailing from a farmers' family, Anil Kumar Yadav (32) roamed around in Delhi and Mumbai in search of a job only to return empty-handed, about three years ago. The very idea of getting engaged in the family's traditional vocation was "nightmarish" to him. Anil, a resident of Samda Chowk village under Basantpur block of Supaul district, around 350km northeast of Patna, today owns a spanking motorcycle,...

-The Hindustan Times   Chandigarh: The government of Punjab has decided to offer a subsidy of 4,000 per acre to motivate farmers to shift from the water-guzzling coarse rice variety (paddy) to the traditional cash crop cotton. In the crop diversification plan, the government has decided to initially support 1,500 acres in Abohar, Fazilka, Malout, Maur and Muktsar. CM Parkash Singh Badal cleared the plan on Monday. The subsidy is for purchasing hybrid...