-TheWire.in Data on caste-based violence in metropolitan cities confirms the grim reality that sits at odds with the narrative of an aspiring global superpower. A mention of violence against Dalits on account of their caste readily bring forth images from rural or small-town India; depending on our vintage these could be from late 1970s’ horrific Belchi and Pipra massacres, or of the more recent public flogging of Dalits in Una, Gujarat. We...

-Business Standard The Commission says incentives for states will be decided, among others, by "control or lack of it in incurring expenditure on populist measures" New Delhi: States offering debt waivers or slipping on centrally funded programmes, such as Swacch Bharat, could get penalised, according to the terms set for the 15th Finance Commission. The terms of reference of the Commission, set up by the central government this week, makes these conditions...

-Livemint.com Farm economist and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand on the urgency of agricultural market reforms to meet the target of doubling farm incomes by 2022 New Delhi: Apart from staging protests in Delhi, farmers must make themselves heard in state capitals as well to resolve issues outside the central government’s control, farm economist and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said. In an interview, he spoke of the urgency of agricultural market...

-TheWire.in The farmers have done their job. The nation has failed to deliver them a decent income in return. Farmers are coming onto the streets across the country – in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and now from all states into Delhi. As the agitations intensify and take a national character, it is necessary for the nation to understand what is driving them. Are they asking for the sky,...

-Livemint.com Political analysts feel there is a sense of dissatisfaction in Uttar Pradesh on demonetisation, though the political dominance of the BJP continues Baghpat, Shamli and Sardhana (Uttar Pradesh): Ved Pal, a 35-year-old farmer from the village of Bodda in Baghpat district, thinks demonetisation was the right thing to do even if its immediate aftermath was painful. “Any new work undertaken by any individual or government will always face problems; so demonetisation...