-The Telegraph However, it is true that administrative agencies cannot act without a nod from their political masters It is, as always, a question of will. The highest court of the Land has demonstrated its will over and over again, coming to the aid of India’s citizens by delivering them from a clutch of threats. Its recent ruling banning noisy, toxic firecrackers can be cited as one example of a deliverance that...

-TheWire.in In 2015, BJP leader and finance minister Arun Jaitley urged states to pass their own laws related to Land acquisition. New Delhi: Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh has written to the President Ramnath Kovind arguing against the dilution of the Central Land acquisition law by state laws. The former rural development minister has argued that states have used article 254 (2) ‘indiscriminately’ to frame state Land acquisition laws...

-The Indian Express Forcing machinery on farmers without giving a thought to the economics of their utilisation can prove counter-productive. There are three main impediments to farm mechanisation in India. The first is cost, which, for a standard 50-horsepower tractor, today averages around Rs 6.5-6.8 lakh. But a tractor is just a source of power and traction, and only as good as the farm implements it can pull. The most basic tractor-drawn tiller/cultivator...

-Hindustan Times Every Rs 10 lakh invested in farm research pulled 328 people out of poverty; 26 people were helped by the same amount spent on subsidies. New Delhi: Are Indian farmers paying a price for sweeping agricultural input subsidies they enjoyed for decades and which they have taken for granted, from virtually free power to extremely low-priced fertilisers? Data from a Landmark new research seem to suggest so. The research, by economist...

-The TribunePunjab has been using fertilisers in excess to the recommended dosage, which has increased the chemical load in the soil, says KS PannuThe soil health card scheme, started by the Centre in February, 2015, aims to conduct chemical analysis of farm Land and issue soil health cards in every 3 years to all farmers of the country. This provides vital data with regard to nutrient deficiencies in the soil...