-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has decided to pump an additional Rs 7,000 crore into the rural job scheme, which is being read by critics as an undeclared sign that economic distress is forcing more people to fall back on unskilled jobs in villages. The Union finance ministry has granted Rs 3,500 crore from the Consolidated Fund of India and asked the rural development ministry to divert another Rs 3,500 crore...

-The Indian Express Agricultural prices crashed in April-June, just when a bumper rabi crop had been harvested after two years of drought, and despite demonetisation. 2017 was agriculture’s annus horribilis. The reason wasn’t monsoon failure (as in 2014 and 2015) or unseasonal rain and hail (as in March 2015); the year was, in fact, largely free of extreme weather events, resulting in a record output of wheat, pulses, cotton, potato and a...

-The Indian Express Animal Husbandry Minister Antarsingh Arya said the recommendations were under consideration but have not been sent to the state Cabinet. Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government is considering a proposal to treat abandonment of cows as an offence and give district collectors the power to book owners who abandon their cows under the IPC. “The existing law can penalise only the kasai (butcher) when caught and not the owners who abandon...

-The Indian Express Pesticide Management Bill should address the anomalies that prevent state governments from booking large pesticide companies. “Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter,” goes an old African proverb, which is also apt to describe the state of the world’s farmers. Farmers are like the hunted lions who need their side of the story told and their sacrifices, agony, courage and fears...

-The Indian Express At the root of the insecurities of Marathas, Jats and Patels lies lack of education and employability The recent clash in Pune district between the Mahars and Marathas reflects the anti-Dalit prejudice of the latter, but it needs to be analysed in the context of the changing status of dominant castes, not only in Maharashtra but across India. The claims of Patels, Jats and Marathas to be considered as...