-Newsclick.in Increase in Muslim population is not due to immigrants but because of higher birth rate, which is driven by poverty and illiteracy. Assam’s Muslim population was recorded as about 34% of the state’s total population in 2011 Census. It was about 31% in 2001 and over 28% in 1991. That’s not much of an increase. Yet insidious political propaganda about rising Muslim population has swamped the minds of people, both...

  The Central Water Commission (CWC) has released the state-wise and national-level annual data on human and economic costs associated with floods or excessive rainfall for the last 64 years at a time when the North East is devastated by nature's fury. That data indicates that on an average 3.2 crore Indians were affected by floods or excessive rainfall every year between 1953 and 2016. Floods or downpours took a heavy toll...

-The Hindu Business Line In view of the distortions arising out of excessive price support, direct income transfers to farmers is a better option The domestic debate has tended to conclude that the rise in MSP announced in the Budget is an essential part of achieving the government’s objective of doubling farm incomes. But MSP stands for minimum support prices and is an instrument designed for reducing income volatility, not for raising...

-The Hindu How Zero Budget Natural Farming could be the model for the future In early June, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that the State would fully embrace Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a chemical-free method that would cover all farmers by 2024. Earlier in the year, he had revealed these plans at the meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Even though this revolution has been in the...

-The Hindu Business Line Seek ban on import of formulations; want trials before allowing them Hyderabad: Pesticide manufacturers and farmers are up in arms against the provisions of the Pesticides Management Bill 2017, which, they believe are detrimental to agriculture and agro-chemical industry. Allowing import of formulations without having to register technicals is contrary to the goal of Make in India campaign launched by the Union government, they said. They want an immediate ban...