-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: A spell of rains that fell across north, northwest and central India since Friday is expected to boost planting of wheat, chick pea, mustard and oilseeds. The cool temperature, though has set in late, is beneficial for the standing wheat crop, but potato and other vegetable crops could suffer from cold and frost conditions. According to data from the agriculture ministry, total area covered under rabi...

-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 Hindustan Times Even with the prospects of a year of high growth and low prices, a clutch of disquieting data on the ground suggests that things are still tough, potentially testing the Narendra Modi-led government's ability to pull the economy up. Output in factories has fallen sharply and a depressing farm season this winter, along with a fall in rural wages, could prolong recovery. Simply put, the drag this time...

-The Indian Express The Union government has decided to decriminalise suicide. A funny interpretation could well be that the Modi government can now commit hara kiri with impunity. But it should be noted that the cases under Section 309, which criminalises suicide, are haphazard, often concealing abetment to murder. Philosophically, it is argued that the right to life includes the right to die without provocation or abetment by anyone else. In a...

-The Indian Express The lynching of a tea estate owner in Jalpaiguri last month has stirred up trouble in the already edgy tea gardens of north Bengal, where lockouts, labour unrest and poverty form a volatile mix. It's all quiet at Labour Lines, the workers' quarters of Sonali Tea Estate in Jalpaiguri. It has just been two days since Rajesh Jhunjhunwala, the 45-year-old owner of the tea gardens, was lynched by a...