-Down to Earth Will the Aayog's vision be any different than the top-down approach of its predecessor, the Planning Commission? WITH THE end of the 12th Five Year Plan on March 31, India’s 65-year tryst with five-year economic development planning has come to an end. In 2014, when the National Democratic Alliance government scrapped the Planning Commission and replaced it with the National Institute of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, it announced...

-Business Standard Huge arrivals from Gujarat and MP increase supply; farmers fear higher spoilage on rise in temp Mumbai:  Vegetables prices crashed in the last two weeks due to farmers’ rush for sale on fears of high spoilage due to sudden rise in temperature across the country. Data compiled by the government owned National Horticulture Board (NHB) showed cauliflower in the wholesale Mumbai mandi slumped by a staggering 25% since March 17 to...

-Scroll.in In this environment of majoritarianism, we must seriously consider proportional representation, adds SY Quraishi. SY Quraishi, who was Chief Election Commissioner from July 2011 to June 2012, is known to be outspoken about several issues regarding electoral reform both when he was in the Election Commission and after he retired. He has asked for public funding of political parties, putting an expenditure cap on them, financial transparency among parties, and...

-The Hindu Business Line 'Above normal' temperatures forecast across the country Prepare for a scorching summer as the India Meteorological Department has forecast “above normal” temperatures across most of the country. Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir — or hill-station States popular among tourists wanting to escape the heat — are expected to be particularly hot with predicted temperatures, on average, likely to be well above 1 degree C above their normal...

-The Indian Express Integration of spot and derivatives markets for farm produce via e-NAM can be a potential game-changer There isn’t much from the recent Union Budget as far as new ideas for agriculture goes, yet it sends out a couple of signals suggesting the Narendra Modi government’s intent to integrate farmers better with the markets. One such signal is the proposal to come out with a ‘model law’ on contract farming for...