-Business Standard Instead of addressing systemic problems in agriculture, farm politics in the state is about how much money the government can offer the farmer as a dole The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), led by Parkash Singh Badal and son Sukhbir, was in a dilemma a year before the 2012 Assembly elections in Punjab. The Akalis had ruled Punjab since 2007 but no party had ever returned to power for a second...

-The Hindu Business Line India’s ambitious targets can be met without compromising the financials of discoms, as is feared India’s goal of having 100 GW of solar power by 2022 has already generated a lot of interest, and scepticism. But it’s even more far-reaching part pertains to the fact that 40 GW out of this is going to be based on distributed energy generation, namely solar rooftop systems. These solar rooftop systems could...

The budgetary support to interest subvention scheme has increased by almost 14 times between 2006-07 and 2016-17. However, the much-touted subsidised short-term credit scheme provides little help to the small and marginal farmers, apart from tenant farmers. According to the Committee on Medium-term Path on Financial Inclusion, which submitted its report in December 2015, the interest subvention scheme suffers from 3 types of defects: i. Subsidised credit may not be...

-The Hindu Proponents of poll reforms see it as a ray of hope,others feel votes could be better used The 2013 Assembly Elections in five states saw the debut of the NOTA (short for the None of the Above) option that enables voters to reject all the candidates in the fray in a particular constituency. While the Supreme Court itself primarily focused on secrecy (which the earlier 49-O process compromised on as it...

-BBC KM Yadav has helped hundreds of Indian villagers access crucial government information that has helped them claim their benefits and rights. Vikas Pandey meets him at his "office" in Chaubepur village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Mr Yadav is patiently listening to a group of villagers as he serves them hot tea from his stall. This tea stall is indistinguishable from the many others dotted across India's towns and villages...