-PTI NEW DELHI: Emphasising that ample credit to the tune of Rs 7 lakh crore flows in the agricultural sector every year, the government today said it is taking "speedy" measures to help farmers who are grappling with debt burden. "We will not let down our farmers," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told Lok Sabha during Question Hour. He said many steps have been taken to reduce debt burden as...

-The Indian Express With the positive intent and progressive action from the new government, the country is excited about entering a new era of growth & revolutionary transformation. This can happen faster and more effectively if the whole ecosystem is geared for it. And most important component of the ecosystem are the people, who are the primary beneficiaries as well as the key catalysts to stimulate this growth and transformation. Hence,...

-Down to Earth Several thousand hectares of crops stand destroyed Even as a team of experts gears up to study the situation of droughts in Maharashtra, heavy unseasonal rains and hailstorms have damaged an estimated 88,000 hectares of standing crops and orchards in the last few days. Nashik, Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar and Sangli are the worst-affected districts. In Nashik, 38,000 hectares of grape crops have been completely damaged. Subhash Arve, vice president of...

-The New Indian Express Since the merger of Telangana with Andhra state, irrigation under tanks in Telangana declined from 13,11,054 acres in 1956 to 3,89,591 acres in 2012-13. This is a decline of 9,21,463 acres or 70 per cent!! As a result, Telangana has lost production, income and employment potential of this vast acreage which could have also recharged groundwater (both from standing water in the irrigated areas as well as...

-The Hindu Business Line   The closure of three urea producing plants in south India has led to a sharp spike in imports and subsidies In April 2014, the UPA government in its last days, cut off the lifeline of three urea plants. It gave a final push to a ten-year-old trend of replacing domestic urea production with imports. The government-owned Madras Fertilisers, and the private sector units SPIC and MCF closed down...