-The Indian Express As the toll of human misery and suicide mounts, official estimates of farm losses due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms in March remain controversial, with hasty downward revision. Since these estimates are largely notional, without validation from field visits, such revision smacks of deliberate fiddling. On March 24, the agriculture ministry reported that crops on 18 million hectares — about 30 per cent of the rabi crops —...

-The Hindu Irked Minister puts officials on notice; insurance companies to face action for the fiasco Lucknow: Laxity on the part of officials seems to have impeded the State government’s efforts to ameliorate the sufferings of over 13 lakh farmers who have suffered massive crop loss on account of unseasonal rains and hailstorm in Uttar Pradesh. Thanks to official apathy, coupled with the slow pace of relief work, the distressed farmers have...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: A disproportionately high number of undertrial prisoners in Maharashtra are Muslims. Data compiled by the Union home ministry reveals that while Muslims comprise about 12% of the state's total population, they make up nearly 32% of the undertrial population in prisons. Similarly, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes form 12% and 9% of Maharashtra's population, but they account for 18.15% and 18.34% of the undertrial population. NCP's Rajya...

-Hindustan Times Hamirpur/ Jalaun/ Banda: The dangerous sand mafia stops at nothing. It kills, runs over men in uniform, kidnaps and, in Uttar Pradesh, even molests and rapes. Its impunity stems from the fact, as an HT investigation found, that complaints lodged with police often remain confined to files. Shivpal Singh, gram pradhan of Bansariya village, testifies to the mafia’s dominance. “In March 2014, the musclemen of a kingpin sexually assaulted two women...

-Economic and Political Weekly An increase in indebtedness in agriculture between 2003 and 2013 does not necessarily mean a growth in debt that has debilitated the cultivator. Higher indebtedness may also reflect a more enabling process--the increased availability of institutional credit. An analysis of NSSO data. Sher Singh Sangwan (drsangwan8@gmail.com) is at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development, Chandigarh. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report, Situation Assessment of Agricultural...