-Livemint.com Digital transactions rose 13.5%—from Rs109.82 trillion in August to Rs124.69 trillion in September, the second highest for a month sINCe the demonetisation exercise New Delhi: Digital transactions in September rose to the second highest monthly level by value sINCe the government’s demonetisation exercise in November. Transactions through digital means rose 13.5% to Rs124.69 trillion in September from Rs109.82 trillion in August, according to provisional data released on Wednesday by the Reserve Bank...

-Livemint.com Drastic fall in ownership of male cattle in rural India is testimony to the benefits of farm mechanization in agriculture New Delhi: Delivering his customary Vijayadashami speech, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat advised farmers to adopt “cow-based farming” practices as a way out of poverty. “When we talk about farming with less capital, organic in nature, naturally the point is raised that the large number of farmers in our...

-The Indian Express To suggest that demonetisation improved rural wages on the basis of rise in INCome of some workers is misleading. It halted the recovery of the rural economy, which had begun after the 2016 monsoon. There is now a consensus that the economy has been slowing down and is headed for a hard landing. Many who matter have spoken out and as Yashwant Sinha points out (‘I need to speak...

-The Financial Express Indian agriculture’s reliance on monsoon rainfall has reduced considerably over the last few years thanks to the INCrease in area irrigated, although there are still pockets — particularly in east and central India — where rains still are a decisive determinant of crop. Key grain-producing states Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have most of the cropped areas under irrigation coverage (see table). Unless...

-NDTV Jean Dreze's new book, a collection of essays called 'Sense and Solidarity - Jholawala Economics for Everyone', starts with a beautiful and moving description of what he sees from his office in Ranchi University at the crack of dawn: hundreds of informal sector coal-miners in Ranchi trudging miles with heavy loads of coal they have dug up, often from below the land from which they were forcibly displaced. Dreze quotes...