-The Indian Express The labour contractor demanded Rs 1.4 lakh for the 10 people who were paid in advance but slipped away. Bhubaneswar: Nilambar Dhangdamajhi, a 22-year-old tribal farmer from Kalahandi district, whose right palm was chopped off by a labour contractor in December 2013, died last evening. Dhangdamajhi, suffering from an unknown fever for last few days, passed away at his home in Nuaguda village of Kalahandi’s Jaipatna block. His wife...

-The Hindu Business Line Hyderabad: Millet Network of India (MINI), an umbrella organisation of activists, scientists and non-governmental organisations, has demanded the Union government implement the National Food Security 2013 and include millets in public distribution system (PDS). MINI Convener PV Satheesh has said that the network has launched a national campaign this week to bring pressure on the government to achieve their demands. “The month-long campaign would highlight the importance of bringing...

-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...

-The Indian Express An enduring solution to India’s water woes lies in buffer stocking during monsoon months and release during lean seasons. Till June end this year, the government was worried about how to cope with back-to-back drought. But by the second half of August, the scene changed dramatically and several states were in the spate of floods. In Bihar, more than five million people have been affected and 6,50,000 displaced from...

-The Hindu The pursuit of full employment of labour cannot primarily rely on domestic private investment, much less FDI. Only public investment will steady us in the long run. We are increasingly told that the inflow of capital — particularly the foreign direct investment (FDI) variety — increases employment levels and contributes to economic growth. In a rare interview given to The Wall Street Journal in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reinforced...