-The Telegraph For the better-off upper castes, it has acquired the context of the safety of their sisters and daughters Bareilly, Rampur: Sitting outside a small medicine-cum-stationery shop at Khirka village in Bareilly district, Rakesh Gangwar, Ramdas Kashyap and Puranlal Gangwar unhesitatingly declare their support for the “phool” (lotus). Each lists the reasons almost in the same order, as though they had prepared beforehand for the question.   The top reason for all three —...

-The Hindu Business Line The textile industry’s vociferous demands will hit cotton farmers, who are facing the brunt of rising costs The recent rise in the price of cotton yarn seems to have hit the textile manufacturers hard, so, a large section of participants involved in value chain products of cotton has called on the government to take measures to arrest the price rise. While demanding higher taxes on cotton exports, they have...

-Down to Earth Western UP farmers say they have become aware of their rights due to the protest and will vote on them The year-long farmers’ protest against the three farm laws and on granting a legal status to minimum support price (MSP) is likely to play a role when farmers from western Uttar Pradesh (UP) cast their votes February 10, 2022. The 2020-21 protest and several mahapanchayats during that time saw a...

-Livemint.com Rural economy has to deal with declining incomes and rising cost of essentials The general consensus on the state of the Indian economy can be summarized as follows: The economy has been in a deep crisis even before the pandemic-led disruptions. Second, the crisis is not a result of supply constraints but is a result of demand deficiency, particularly in the rural economy. Recent evidence suggests that the impact of the slowdown...

-Down to Earth Urea subsidy cut 17%; allocation for NPK subsidy reduced 35%  Amid acute shortage of fertilisers in India, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman February 1, 2022, reduced subsidy on urea and nutrient-based (NPK) fertilisers. The move is expected to adversely hit the ailing farm sector. The Rs 63,222.32 crore allocation for urea subsidy in her Budget for 2022-23 was 17 per cent lower than the revised estimates (RE) for 2021-22. Another...