-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Press Council of India has sought a clarification from the Union government over a gag order the home ministry issued last month to restrict media access to senior officials. In a letter sent yesterday to the information and broadcasting ministry, the council, the statutory body to regulate the print media in the country, sought an explanation on why a "section of the central government had asked senior...

-Livemint.com A total of 158 farmers killed themselves in July in the state, bringing this year’s toll of farmer suicides to 197, the most since 2003 Bengaluru: The farmer suicide rate in Karnataka has hit the highest level in a decade, highlighting agrarian distress in the state. A total of 158 farmers killed themselves in July alone in the state, government data showed, bringing this year’s toll of farmer suicides to 197,...

A long-pending demand of civil society activists and NGOs, who are campaigning for probity, accountability, and transparency in public life, is going to be fulfilled soon. A welcome move has been made by the Government to enumerate and publish data on crimes committed against media persons, Right to Information activists, and whistleblowers in the forthcoming edition of Crime in India, which is published annually by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)...

-The Indian Express Response to the crisis of farmer suicides is narrowly focused. Poor health accounts for most suicides, necessitating improved access to healthcare rather than special packages For over a decade, farmer suicides in India has been a serious public policy concern. More recently, this has led to a shrill media outcry and much politicking. The government response to the crisis of farmer suicide has mostly been simplistic and sometimes aggravating....

-Economic and Political Weekly A categorical distinction is facing rough weather--that between urban and rural. If we take just agriculture, there is so much of the outside world that comes in not just as external markets but as external inputs. Further, many of our villages barely qualify as rural if we were to take occupation alone. So the earlier line that separated the farmer from the worker in towns is slowly...