-The Tribune Grains Of Discontent: The damage to wheat crop due to untimely rain and hailstorm, followed by delayed payments, this rabi season has further stressed Punjab’s farmers. While the cost of farm inputs has risen manifold over the past few years, the profit margin is on a constant decline, thus making farming unviable. Unable to bear losses, several farmers have committed suicide in recent past As the day breaks, he enters...

-The Indian Express Exceptions justified to ‘balance need for education, socio-economic reality’. While prohibiting employment of children below the age of 14, the Centre decided Wednesday to let them work in family enterprises and in the audio-visual entertainment industry, except the circus, provided their school education is not affected. The government justified the exceptions to strike “a balance between the need for education for a child and reality of the socio-economic condition...

-The Hindu Amidst the din over the land acquisition bill in Parliament, the farmer’s voice was missing. Everybody has an opinion on farmers these days. Be it politicians, policymakers, editors or economists. In fact, ever since the Parliament reconvened for the Budget session on April 20, the deteriorating condition of farmers has clearly dominated discussions. But even as the issue of agrarian crisis, farmer suicides (especially after Gajendra Singh’s suicide in a...

-The Indian Express With the country’s ace survey body unsure, the matter has been in a limbo for a year now. New Delhi: The government’s efforts for a nationwide assessment of drug abuse has hit an unexpected hurdle. The country’s largest survey body, the National Sample Survey Organisation, has said it cannot carry out the job as it does not have the required expertise. NSSO has, however, said at internal meetings...

-The Indian Express Mumbai: Despite MGNREGA’s rich possibilities, Kumar notes that the Maharashtra government has slashed allocations under it to Rs 800 crore in 2014-15. Even as it stares at unprecedented crop loss from back-to-back droughts followed by untimely rains/hailstorms, Maharashtra has seemingly given the short shrift to MGNREGA, which could have gone some way in mitigating the current crisis. And significantly, its potential has been least leveraged in Vidarbha, the region...