-The Hindu Business Line It is an important tool for agrarian families to manage and mitigate their risks Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the Indian economy, especially in rural areas. According to the recently-released Situational Assessment and Land Holdings of Agricultural Households in Rural India Report (SAS, 2019) by the National Statistics Office, 54 per cent of rural households are agricultural, earning 37 per cent of their household income from farming.  This sector, however, is also subject to a...

-The Hindu Rising fuel prices remain a festering pressure point for households The urban poor have been the worst-hit by the high inflation that has prevailed over the past one-and-a-half years, and the persistent uptick in fuel prices continues to pose a major threat for them, rating agency Crisil said in a note on Friday. While inflation shrinks purchasing power across the board, the impact on different income classes varies with their share...

One is almost certain to hear this from an economist that if something is available at free of cost or at a subsidised rate thanks to government intervention, then people tend to overuse or overconsume such goods/ commodities. So, the best solution is to create a market for such 'almost freely available' or 'highly subsidised' goods or commodities. Once people start paying to use or consume such goods/ commodities, they...

-The Hindu However, suicides among landowning farmers dropped slightly during pandemic year The number of agricultural labourers who died by suicide in 2020 was 18% higher than the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report released on Thursday. However, suicides among landowning farmers dropped slightly during the pandemic year. The farm sector was one of the few bright spots in the Indian economy last year, recording growth on the...

-The Hindu The Government’s objection to the methodology of the Global Hunger Index is not based on facts The Global Hunger Report (GHR) has once again made headlines in India for the country’s poor ranking in terms of the Global Hunger Index (GHI). The report ranks India at 101 out of 116 countries, with the country falling in the category of having a ‘serious’ hunger situation. The ranks are not comparable across...