-The Hindu As the government pushes for ‘Make in India’, it could begin by unmaking the damage the post-1991 reforms inflicted on domestic industry. This year marks 25 years since the so-called “economic reforms” were launched in July 1991. By now, broad contours of the policies and practices that characterised such reforms are well known, viz. radical deregulation, marketisation and privatisation of the industrial, technological and financial sectors, and an across-the-board...

-MoneyLife.in Doubling of farmers' incomes will require large-scale changes in the output that India currently produces and how it goes about producing it. India will gain massively by shifting focus to pulses and horticulture and by moving people out of agriculture, says a report   Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday strongly defended his government's ambitious promise to double farmers' income in five years that was doubted by the opposition. He said the...

-The Financial Express It is expected that the measures announced in the Budget will boost agricultural output and rural incomes It appears that Budget FY17 has not generated enough excitement in media, academics and the masses, including farmers. Currently, farm distress is a serious concern in the country. The livelihood security of the rural population is in peril. Farmers are in dire need of substantial help to come out of the crisis-like...

-The Telegraph Chennai: Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has agreed to compensate nearly 600 former employees who were exposed to toxic mercury in a thermometer factory that had been relocated from New York to Tamil Nadu by another investor in 1984 following environmental concerns in the US. The thermometer factory is located at Kodaikanal, around 430km from here. The plant was shut down in 2011 after Greenpeace activists found mercury waste in the...

-Livemint.com The nine-member cotton seed price control committee has recommended a maximum sale price of Rs.800 for a 450g packet of Bollgard II Bt cotton seeds New Delhi: A government panel on genetically modified Bt cotton has recommended a steep reduction in royalty fees payable to technology companies, and lower seed prices. If accepted, the recommendations will benefit nearly 8 million cotton farmers in India, but may raise concerns about how India...