-The Hindu The truth may ultimately prevail about demonetisation, but the government might be able to maintain the loyalty of a large part of the public for a long time, says Amartya Sen More than two months after the demonetisation, Nobel Laureate and economist Amartya Sen says that any proper “economic reasoning could not have sensibly led to such a ham-handed policy.” He predicts that the demonetisation will hit the economy quite...

-The Indian Express Agriculture GDP bucks the trend of decline in other sectors. But can the government help the farmers sustain this growth? The first advanced estimates of GDP growth for the financial year 2016-2017 (FY17) show a marginal decline from 7.6 per cent last year to 7.1 per cent this year. Of the various sectors, gross value added at basic prices (2011-12), mining and quarrying is down from 7.4 per cent...

-Livemint.com Crash in farm prices could accentuate bankruptcy, which was the biggest reason for farmer suicides in 2014 and 2015 After two successive years of drought, 2016 was turning out to be a relatively better year for farmers till 8 November. The decision to scrap high-value currency notes, announced on that day, seems to have hit the farm sector the hardest. While credible and timely data on farm incomes and output is hard...

-Bangalore Mirror ICAR researchers say subsidised electricity benefitting only medium and large farmers Stating that the policy decision to provide free or subsidised electricity has been a key driver for widespread groundwater exploitation, estimates by ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Ballari, reveal that in Karnataka, groundwater depletion has forced farmers to drill up to depths of 200 to 300 metres, costing about Rs 2.5-3 lakh for a successful...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre and seven states, including Bengal, on a plea for return of 45,782 hectares of agricultural land acquired from farmers in the name of creating special economic zones (SEZs) but allegedly diverted by the promoters for other purposes. The petition filed through the SEZ Farmers' Protection Welfare Association of Andhra Pradesh seeks the return of unused land to the farmers...