-Livemint.com Drought declaration can provide farmers relief through compensation for crop damage and restructuring of loans New Delhi: Even though the monsoon ended with a 14% rainfall deficit, with nearly half the country’s districts facing a shortage of over 20%, states are delaying declaring a drought that could provide immediate relief to farmers by compensating for crop damage and restructuring farm loans. The June-September monsoon, which irrigates over half the country’s farm...

-Huffington Post NEW DELHI: Almost 300 cases of murder, assault and harassment relating to information activism have been recorded in the ten years since the Right To Information Act came into force on October 12, 2005, and Maharashtra has emerged as the most dangerous state for RTI activists in the country. While there is no official data on RTI-related crime, figures complied by the Delhi-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative found 230 cases...

-The Indian Express The Union cabinet lacks a champion for agriculture Policymakers in the corridors of power in Delhi are feeling upbeat. There is recovery and resurgence in India’s stockmarkets. The Make in India campaign is getting more publicity and being noticed by foreign investors. FDI inflows are improving, and India’s ranking in the Ease of Doing Business index seems to be improving, as per some selective ratings. But agriculture, where almost half...

-TheWire.in Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceiling (Amendment) Bill, 2015, unanimously passed in the two-day monsoon session of the Gujarat state assembly – after Congress MLAs were suspended for creating a “ruckus” –  is finally beginning to get national attention. The Bill is lying with President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, awaiting his final nod after the Gujarat governor, O.P. Kohli, sent it to Delhi for approval.  According to sources, the risk-averse Kohli...

-PTI CHANDIGARH: The raging controversy over cow slaughter has hit the Rs 2,500 crore business of breeding cows in Punjab with dairy farmers accusing the state's Gau Sewa Commission of "harassing" them by "inordinately" delaying the necessary permission for export of bovines to other states. Dairy farmers under the banner of Punjab Progressive Dairy Farmers' Association alleged that the "inordinate" delay in getting the necessary permission from district authorities for export of...