-The Hindu Business Line Crop insurance will make farming a safer vocation The plight of Punjab’s cotton farmers after a swarm of ‘whiteflies’ ravaged their crop is truly disquieting. In a knee-jerk response, Punjab has promised ₹640 crore for over two-third of the crop being destroyed, but on what basis, it is hard to tell. This highlights the absence of crop insurance in Punjab, as pointed out by a recent Crisil study....

-The Indian Express The Union cabinet lacks a champion for agriculture Policymakers in the corridors of power in Delhi are feeling upbeat. There is recovery and resurgence in India’s stockmarkets. The Make in India campaign is getting more publicity and being noticed by foreign investors. FDI inflows are improving, and India’s ranking in the Ease of Doing Business index seems to be improving, as per some selective ratings. But agriculture, where almost half...

-PTI The govt would also increase monthly widow pension from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 in the families of farmers who had committed suicide Haveri (Karnataka): Providing succour to distressed farmers, the Karnataka government today announced waiver of interest and penal interest on crop loans from cooperative banks for the current fiscal and hike in compensation from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh to families of farmers who had committed suicide. The...

-The Hindu ‘Safe Travels!’ we wish those travelling to distant places. It is an unhappy situation that in India, we need to wish many a woman ‘safe travels’ as she steps out to work. Well publicised instances of violence against women working in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector during workplace-related travel as well as some not so broadly-known experiences of women in blue collar work, point to a problem that...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: Gujarat is prone to drought once in three years while states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka tend to have two years of drought in a period of five years. This is one of the conclusions of the central government's report, 'Drought, Crisis Management Plan-2015' which also says that around 16% of the country and 68% of the sowing area nationally is drought prone. In the...