-TheWire.in The insurance coverage in 2015 was 22.3%, with a government expenditure of Rs 2,955 crore. But by spending 4.5x since, how does the government admit to a coverage of only 23%? Farmer suicides and agrarian distress have likely never been among the national public debates as they are right now. A group of Tamil Nadu farmers, whose protests in New Delhi were dubbed ‘bizarre’ but who were actually desperate for debate and...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A nationwide network of farmers today dubbed the demonetisation exercise "the most hurtful scheme since independence" and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledges for the agriculture sector announced on December 31 were "a rehash of what already exists". The network of farmers' associations and representatives from across the country said in a letter sent to the Prime Minister that the demonetisation move had shown a "dismaying disregard"...

-Down to Earth All the 14 districts of the state are facing severe water scarcity The Kerala government today declared drought in all the 14 districts of the state after experiencing a sharp dip in rainfall during the southwest monsoon. The districts are facing severe water scarcity. While making the announcement in the state assembly, the Minister for Revenue, E Chandrasekharan, said that even 100 per cent rain over the next...

-Frontline A noteworthy study that provides much-needed insights into the nature and severity of the farm crisis in Punjab. There have been many studies on agrarian distress and farmer suicides in different parts of India in the last decade, including in Punjab. Most of the studies focus on a profile of the victims, mostly landowning farmers, and reasons thereof, with a sample of such farmers. In this context, this book makes a...

-Outlook Following are the highlights of interim budget 2014-15: Income tax rates kept unchanged 10 pc surcharge on 'super-rich' having annual income above Rs 1 crore to continue 10 pc surcharge on domestic corporates with income of Rs 10 crore Foodgrain production estimated at 263 million tonnes in 2013-14 Fiscal deficit at 4.6 pc in 2013-14...