-The Indian Express Delhi air pollution: The current smog and poor air quality in the National Capital Region has been blamed in part on stubble burning by farmers, especially in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana. What is the genesis of the problem? What are its potential solutions? * How widespread is crop stubble burning? It is mainly confined to Punjab, Haryana and parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where farmers grow paddy and...
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The farm world still a land of cash -Vishwanath Kulkarni
-The Hindu Business Line Scars on agriculture supply chain remain a pain point for commodity prices Bengaluru: A year after demonetisation, the cash-intensive agriculture sector is yet to fully recover from the impact. Cash continues to be the preferred instrument for rural and farm transactions, while alternatives such as cheques and bank transfers are seen making their presence felt in some quarters. The cautious agri-trade is still seen struggling with inventory management, as the...
More »Denial of MGNREGA entitlements continues in blatant violation of Supreme Court orders
-Press release from NREGA Sangharsh Morcha The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Swaraj Abhiyan in the Supreme Court on the severe drought conditions in the country had drawn the attention of the Court to the inadequate effort of the Central and state governments in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), amongst other welfare programmes. In its last judgment on issues of MGNREGA workers on 13 May...
More »Cash still king as digital payments inch up slowly -Rachel Chitra
-The Times of India CHENNAI: If demonetisation was a push for a cashless economy, it has been working very slowly. Reserve Bank of India data shows the usage of wallets, non-UPI banking apps and Aadhaar-enabled payments has been slow to catch on, while that of debit cards has fallen. The UPI payments have been growing, and a significant chunk of them are mobile-based. Overall, electronic payments stood at Rs 200 trillion in...
More »Jean Dreze, development economist, interviewed by Ankita Virmani (Firstpost.com)
-Firstpost.com Development economist Jean Dreze has been vociferous critic of the Narendra Modi government's demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes a year back. He had famously warned that "demonetisation in a booming economy is like shooting at the tyres of a racing car". A year on, it seems his caution has come true. In the first quarter of the current financial year, the GDP growth slowed to a three-year...
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