-Frontline The problem in rural India is not one of too much credit to poor households that leads to debt waivers that damage bank balance sheets, but one of inadequate access to credit from formal sources. IF Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan is to be believed, efforts to help Indian farmers by providing them with cheap(er) credit and relieving them of an unsustainable debt burden only harms them in the...

-The Hindu Kochi (Kerala): With the tribespeople resorting to e-trading, as many as 14 products are expected to reach the doorsteps of customers across the world through a mouse click. The tribespeople of Chalakudy are trying out e-commerce to find better markets for their exclusive forest produce. With the tribespeople resorting to e-trading, as many as 14 products including forest honey collected from the rain forests of Chalakudy, wild turmeric (kasthoorimanjal) and kallurvanchi,...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Emphasising that ample credit to the tune of Rs 7 lakh crore flows in the agricultural sector every year, the government today said it is taking "speedy" measures to help farmers who are grappling with debt burden. "We will not let down our farmers," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told Lok Sabha during Question Hour. He said many steps have been taken to reduce debt burden as...

-PTI   Households in rural areas hold assets worth over Rs 10 lakh on average, less than half the holdings by those in cities, says a government survey. At the same time, villages account for higher proportion of families owning some physical and financial assets at 98 per cent, higher than 94 per cent in urban areas. "Around 98 per cent of rural households and around 94 per cent of urban households in India...

-The Asian Age There was a news report not so long ago that ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), an international organisation and part of the CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) consortium, had entered into an agreement with Gubba Cold Storage Ltd. to set up a private seed bank, the first of its kind in India. No details were available of the terms and conditions under...