-The Hindu Guntur Collector’s report says that the research scholar belonged to the Mala caste Hyderabad: Rohith Vemula, the 26-year-old research scholar who committed suicide in the University of Hyderabad (UoH) on January 17 this year, belonged to the Scheduled Caste community, states a report which Guntur District Collector Kantilal Dande submitted to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC). The report in its operative part reads: “As per the available documentary evidence...

-The Indian Express The Maharashtra Gramin Bank has written to the district collectors of eight districts expressing inability to disburse crop loans for the upcoming kharif season. Mumbai: The prediction of a good monsoon may not be enough to bring cheers to farmers of Marathwada, as questions are being raised over disbursement of crop loans in the region. The Maharashtra Gramin Bank has written to the district collectors of eight districts...

-Livemint.com It is not possible to provide ‘maximum governance’ with ‘minimum government’. We need ‘good government’ for ‘good governance’, says Deepak Nayyar The erstwhile Planning Commission closed down soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision on 15 August 2014. Its demise was attributable partly to the ideological belief that planning is passé in this age of markets and globalization and partly to its poor performance combined with growing irrelevance. The...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Four months from now, the dynamics of local bodies is set to change. Half of 1.32 lakh Posts in municipal corporations, municipalities, town panchayats and panchayats will be represented by women — up from one-third now. The AIADMK government has notified the law guaranteeing 50% reservation for women in all local bodies. The legislation was passed in the last assembly in February . In an extra-ordinary gazette notification...

-Livemint.com Aided by distorted procurement, Punjab’s rich farmers are undertaking high, but damaging, investment Small farmers and fragmented land holdings are often cited as the main problem affecting India’s agricultural growth. After all, lower incomes will limit the ability of such farmers to make significant investments and also make them and more vulnerable to price or weather related shocks. Punjab – the Poster boy of India’s green revolution – which has larger...