-The Hindu Govt. cuts FY19 growth estimate to 7%; Q3 growth estimated at six-quarter low; agriculture, manufacturing contribute to slowdown GDP growth slowed for the third consecutive quarter in the October-December 2018 period, according to data released on Thursday. Growth fell to 6.6% in the third quarter, the lowest in the last six quarters. The slowdown was led by agriculture, which is estimated to grow at 2.7%, against the earlier estimate of 3.8%. Data...

-The Economic Times Agricultural straw is mostly used as fodder for cattle or for making cardboard in areas where farmers harvest their crop by hand. New Delhi: Government think-tank Niti Aayog will soon come out with a policy roadmap to promote alternative use of crop residue, which farmers continue to burn in the fields despite a ban in some states to curb air pollution. The advisory body has floated an expression of...

-The Hindu Investment and policy reform are needed on priority to help farmers cope with climate change Over the last decade, many of Bundelkhand’s villages have faced significant depopulation. Famous of late for farmer protests, the region, which occupies parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, has been adversely impacted by climate change. It was once blessed with over 800-900 mm rainfall annually, but over the last seven years, it has seen...

-The Indian Express The pollution problem is not merely a technological issue, but a social concern. Air pollution is a silent killer in India, especially in the country’s northern belt. Eighteen per cent of the world’s population lives in India, but the country bears 26 per cent of the global disease burden due to air pollution. According to estimates of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative — published last year in...

-Networkideas.org The basic income scheme that is in the air these days, which amounts to handing over a certain sum of money to every household to ensure that it reaches a threshold cash income, is an extremely flawed scheme. Instead of enjoining upon the state the obligation to provide essential goods and services like food, education, and health, to its citizens, it absolves the State of all such responsibility, once it...