-Livemint.com * Company boards dominated by directors of the same caste tend to enter deals more often, shows an IIM-B study * These companies perform slightly worse in terms of returns than those who do not enter into same-caste deals New Delhi: The caste system pervades all spheres of Indian society. Caste biases still influence many aspects of the economy but the private corporate sector is generally perceived as an oasis of meritocracy...

-Down to Earth RUDRAPUR: In Udham Singh Nagar district, considered the rice bowl of Uttarakhand, thousands of farmers are dependent on groundwater resources for irrigating water-hungry crops such as rice, maize and other kharif crops. Since the past decade, this area has been grappling with intense and rapid depletion of groundwater reserves largely due to over-extraction in the industrial area set up at different cities in the district and the cultivation...

-The Telegraph Rahul cited Sreedhanya’s achievement in Wayanad as evidence that the job scheme was working and took a dig at Narendra Modi Kalpetta (Kerala): The first tribal woman from Kerala to qualify for the IAS told Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday that her parents were beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Sreedhanya Suresh said her parents had educated their two children with the money they earned from the rural...

-The Indian Express Rural crisis needs nuanced interventions, not tall promises in party manifestos Farmers were sold a dream in 2014 that everything was going to change. But now they have compelling reasons to feel they were deceived. Party manifestos indicate what the politicians want us to believe. After elections, winners get either selective amnesia (Rs 15 lakh in each bank account), re-interpret promises (MSP at C2+50 per cent), continue to...

-Livemint.com * On 18 April, these victims of drought will vote, though they have little hope of a positive change irrespective of who wins the elections * In Latur, which in 2016 became the first city in India to be supplied drinking water by a specially commissioned train, has been the epicentre of this drought SOLAPUR/ AHMEDNAGAR/MADHA/ OSMANABAD: It is 2.15pm and the scorching sun makes Valsang village in Solapur district look even...