Deccan Herald Many economists expected a massive allocation for the agricultural sector in the budget, especially after the repeal of three farm law bills.  However, the agricultural sector allocation decreased drastically from Rs 1.33 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2022–23 to Rs 1.25 lakh crore in 2023–24. It received only 3.78 per cent of the total budget share in 2021–22; this was reduced to 3.36 per cent in 2022–23 and further...

In 2017, journalist Gauri Lankesh was assassinated in Bangalore days before she planned to publish an article about disinformation. Over five years later, Forbidden Stories pursued Lankesh’s work on fake news and explored new leads in her murder case Phineas Rueckert & Srishti Jaswal - Forbidden Stories Oishika Neogi - Confluence Media Prajwal Bhat - Newsminute Laura Höflinger - Der Spiegel  On September 5, 2017, as 55-year-old journalist Gauri Lankesh walked up to the entryway...

Reuters India is set to produce lesser sugar than previously estimated by industry bodies and government agencies, with the cane crop maturing early and losing weight due to weather conditions in key growing regions, farmers and traders told Reuters. Lower sugar output could prevent the world's second-biggest exporter from allowing additional exports, potentially supporting global prices and helping rivals Brazil and Thailand to increase their shipments. India was estimated to produce 34 to...

Livemint Air travel in India has surged to a new post-covid record in February, with an unexpectedly robust showing in what is typically one of the slowest periods for airlines, driven by a rebound in corporate travel and demand from events such as the recent G20 meetings and Aero India. India’s average daily domestic air passenger numbers in February increased to around 420,000 from 410,000 in December. The average daily passengers in...

In the recent week, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has dealt three major, concerted blows to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA):   (1) The Budget allocation for NREGA was reduced to just Rs 60,000 crore in 2023-24 (less than Rs 50,000 crore if we deduct wage arrears from 2022-23). This makes this year’s allocation the lowest as a proportion of GDP (0.2%) in the history of the programme. (2) The...