-Business Standard Acreage of these crops is likely to fall as prices drop below MSP in mandis Mumbai: Farmers are shifting from oilseeds and pulses to more remunerative crops like cotton and maize this kharif season. The area under oilseeds and pulses is likely to decline with prices ruling below minimum support prices in many mandis. Farmers are agitating because their produce is not being lifted by government agencies and traders are also...

-Livemint.com Behind the rising tide of farmers’ protests lie several structural weaknesses facing the farm economy In a year when farm growth has crossed the 4% mark and official statistics show a record increase in production, one would have expected farmers to celebrate. Instead, farmers in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are out on the streets protesting, and in some cases, facing bullets from the local police. What explains this...

-The Economic Times Yogi Adityanath’s government in Uttar Pradesh opened a Pandora’s box of loan waivers and there seems to be no stopping it. The BJP, perceived by many as a reformist party committed to addressing chronic structural issues, is taking populism to new heights. Loan waivers could prove to be a huge drain for the exchequer and MIGht deal a blow to the creation of much-needed infrastructure in agriculture. The chief...

-The Hindu Men with no prior experience being employed in boats, says study Kochi (Kerala): Of all the 14 persons who were on board Carmel Matha, the fishing boat which was involved in a mid-sea collision on Sunday, no fishermen belonged to Kerala. Surprising as it may seem, the fact, however, has come as no surprise to those in the marine fisheries sector. A cursory glance at the functioning of fishing harbours of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A group of retired bureaucrats have written an open letter ruing the "rising authoritarianism and majoritarianism" that is choking dissent, and urging public authorities to take "corrective action" to "reclaim and defend the spirit of the Constitution". "Argumentation and discussion about different perspectives - the lifeblood not only of institutions of learning but of democracy itself -are being throttled," the letter says. "Disagreement and dissent are considered seditious...