Lack of adequate credit - the lifeblood for any company is threatening to derail fledgling attempts by hundreds of dalit entrepreneurs to overcome deep socio-economic barriers and break into mainstream business.  Without credit, such entrepreneurs would also struggle to cash-in on the Rs 7,000-crore business opportunity opened up by the central government's new dalit-friendly sourcing plan, unveiled last month.  Credit disbursements to dalit entrepreneurs through 20-odd schemes run by the Ministry of...

-The Times of India   Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Sunday said farmer welfare topped the government's list of priorities and that agriculture would undoubtedly be given maximum impetus. Talking to officials about his government's newest initiatives on the eve of the state-level bankers' committee meeting at his camp office, the CM urged them to ensure that all welfare measures for farmers are implemented in a transparent manner. He made it...

-The Telegraph   RBI governor D. Subbarao has expressed concern over Bengal’s low credit-deposit ratio, which means that funds from the cash-starved state are actually meeting the borrowing needs elsewhere. The erstwhile Left government used to blame banks for the skewed ratio. But bankers have blamed it on the poor credit absorption capacity of rural Bengal because of fragmented land holdings — a fallout of the land reforms. After a meeting with chief minister...

A fresh wave of farmer suicides has been reported in several states, pushing families deeper into poverty. A coalition of farm-sector organisations said it had identified over 700 cases this year, but state government officials said they were still verifying the incidents. “Vidarbha in Maharashtra has emerged as the epicentre of farmer suicides again. There have been 680 suicides in just 6 districts in 2011,” said Kishor Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan...

-The Hindustan Times A 45-year-old cotton grower tried to end his life by consuming pesticide at the election meeting of the chief minister Prithviraj Chavan at Dhamangaon in Amravati district, some 200 kms from here in western part of Vidarbha, on Sunday. According to reports reaching here this evening, the incident occurred when the chief minister was addressing an election meeting for the ensuing municipality elections at Dhamangaon on Sunday afternoon.  The...