-Business Standard The efficacy of farm debt waivers is ambiguous, but it has proved to be a potent potent weapon in the run-up to elections With elections round the corner in agrarian states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, his party’s Punjab chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal are trying to woo farmers of the two states with promises of farm...
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From Plate to Plough: Seize the crisis -Ashok Gulati & Shweta Saini
-The Indian Express Government has the opportunity to rein in food inflation on a sustainable basis. In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi counted his government’s achievements. Bringing down inflation from double digits to below six per cent was emphatically mentioned as one that brought relief to the aam aadmi. Without doubt, we witnessed moderation in the overall consumer price index (CPI) and wholesale price index (WPI) levels in the past...
More »Why UP farmers are moving away from 'cash crop' sugarcane -Archana Shukla
-MoneyControl.com Uttar Pradesh is the leader in sugarcane farming and sugar and the largest contributor to the state economy. But, both these statuses may soon be lost owing to the recent crisis, where payments have not being made in time. The once touted "cash crop" hasn't been yielding the dividends it used to in the past. According to the data from the Uttar Sugar Corporation, cropping area has seen a steep 13-percent...
More »Mihir Shah, water policy expert and member of the erstwhile Planning Commission, interviewed by Jacob Koshy
-The Hindu Mihir Shah on the importance of an integrated policy for groundwater and surface water Mihir Shah, water policy expert, member of the erstwhile Planning Commission and in recent months head of several committees tasked with reforming India’s water laws, says existing institutions are inadequate to address our water needs. Which is why, he says in an e-mail interview, India needs an overarching water commission. Excerpts: * The proposed National Water Commission...
More »Farmer suicides up 40 per cent in a year, Karnataka shows sharpest spike -Deeptiman Tiwary
-The Indian Express Maharashtra, according to sources, continues to witness the highest number of farmer suicides. The state saw an 18 per cent jump between 2014 and 2015 — from 2,568 to 3,030. New Delhi: FARMER suicides in the country spiked by over 40 per cent between 2014 and 2015. While 2014 saw 5,650 farmer suicides, the figure crossed 8,000 in 2015, government sources told The Indian Express. Maharashtra, according to sources,...
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