-Livemint.com A new study from India links the rise in mineral prices to the electoral success of politicians with violent crime records The mining sector in India has earned a bad name for itself due to its frequent links with corruption and crime. Bribes are often given away for LICences and approvals, and whistleblowers risk violence. A new study has found that a boom in the mining sector can even be linked...

-The Indian Express Post 2014, two centralisations — of political and economic power — continue to reinforce each other, with profound consequences for the country and potential to define popular narrative in days ahead. The return of single-party dominance and its impLICations for politics after nearly 25 years of minority/coalition governments at the Centre (December 1989-April 2014) has been widely commented upon. As have concerns over rising corporate market power and their...

-IndiaSpend.com The new farm laws that aim to double farmers’ income in two years by deregulating agricultural markets may further widen the inequalities in the sector, shows our analysis of similar legislations from the past. By weakening the government’s price guarantee system, the laws may end up hurting small and poor farmers, who form 80% of the sector and 23% of those who live below the poverty line, say critics. The privatisation...

-The Hindu Coastal Students’ Cultural Forum, an NGO, documents the indigenous knowledge of fishing community in the district through a community radio Kizhakkaafrican raajuvil Velameen entra raaniyum thekkaafrican raajuvil Nemmeen entra arasanum irukkirar (there lived the queen of East African region, Velameen and the king of South African territory, Nemmeen). Thiruvananthapuram: That is how James Pethiru starts his Tamil kathaprasangam (story-telling performance). Apparently, nemmeen (seer fish) proposes marriage to velameen (white snapper) only...

-The Indian Express The Prime Minister’s Office, which manages the fund, has declined to furnish details of contributions received, saying that PM CARES is “not a pubLIC authority under the...RTI Act”. IT’S NOT just a wide range of central educational institutions, at least seven pubLIC sector banks, seven other leading financial institutions and insurers, and the RBI, have together contributed Rs 204.75 crore from their staff salaries to the Prime Minister’s Citizen...