-TheWire.in Premium collected by insurance companies has increased by Rs 36,848 crore, while the number of farmers covered has increased only by 0.42%, according to RTI data obtained by The Wire. New Delhi: In January 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a revamped crop insurance scheme, his government’s flagship scheme for farmers, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). It would “bring about a major transformation in the lives of farmers”, Modi...

-Scroll.in On the second anniversary of the note ban, banker Meera Sanyal shares her experience of writing a book on the government’s great blunder. Some incidents are hard to forget – the death of a loved one, the moment one falls in love, the birth of a child. They remain etched in our memories with a vividness that transcends time. Occasionally, there is an incident that imprints itself on the collective memory...

-Scroll.in Providing them machinery to remove loose straw and expanding the industries that use crop residue could help tackle the problem, says a new study. It is that time of the year. Delhi’s air is becoming poisonous and, once again, Punjab’s farmers burning paddy straw are being blamed for it. But few bother to ask why these farmers dispose of their crop residue in such a polluting way even though the risk...

-TheWire.in/ Business Standard Asked what action was taken after receiving Rajan's list of NPA defaulters suspected of fraud, the PMO replied that this information does not fall within the scope of RTI New Delhi: Information disclosed in response to an RTI request made by The Wire has confirmed that former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan indeed notified Narendra Modi of the need to probe key defaulters as early as eight...

-The Indian Express First, it was low prices and, now, with soaring input costs, farmers may cut back on sowings Nashik/ New Delhi: During much of the current government’s tenure, Indian farmers have suffered from poor crop realisations, partly due to the crash in global agri-commodity prices after around April 2014 and aggravated by demonetisation and GST (goods and services tax) that have depressed sentiment in predominantly cash-based produce markets. One indicator...