-Hindustan Times Productivity is also expected to drop further to about 35% owing to intermittent rains. Mumbai: Prolonged dry spells and deviation in rainfall for about six weeks in July and August has led to a drop in agricultural production and productivity when compared to the state’s five-year average and the bumper crop yielded last year. The drop, which ranges between 15% and 28%, in the production of pulses, cereals and oilseeds...

-Hindustan Times Of the affected states are also those announced farm loan waivers just months ago to bail out beleaguered farming community. With the southwest monsoon season about to end in less than three weeks’ time, the government’s drought warning system predicts there could be a drought in 225 districts across “17 agriculturally important states of India,” putting further strain on distressed agriculture sector. According to the government’s National Agriculture and Drought...

-Hindustan Times In his election nomination papers for the state legislative council, chief minister Yogi Adityanath reveals he owns a 2014 model Toyota Fortuner and a Toyota Innova. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s saffron-clad ascetic chief minister Yogi Adityanath owns a licensed revolver and rifle, a sport utility vehicle, wears a gold earring and a chain with rudraksha beads around his neck, and has movable assets worth Rs 95.98 lakh. Also, the 45-year-old priest-politician is...

-Hindustan Times Raghuram Rajan makes the disclosure in his latest book -- I do what I do – which is a compilation of speeches he delivered on a wide range of issues as the RBI governor. Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has revealed that he did not favour demonetisation as he felt the short term economic costs associated with such a disruptive decision would outweigh any longer term benefits from it. Rajan...

-Hindustan Times India’s public expenditure on health is rising, but not as fast as its burgeoning population of 1.3 billion, which grow by 26 million each year It’s not the lack of oxygen that kills hundreds of children in hospitals of Uttar Pradesh each year, it’s India’s abysmal public health delivery system. “Gorakhpur is the symbol of the collapse of the primary health care system. Why should people be forced to travel 200km...