The state's rice bowl is left empty An unviable minimum support price (MSP) for rice has forced farmers in Andhra Pradesh to leave their lands fallow. The movement is spreading to other states. “Farming never pays” is a familiar slogan among agriculturists across the world, and especially so in India. Nevertheless, many continue to cultivate their fields year after year, barely eking out an existence, toiling in the hope that the tide...

The Union government’s plan to recapitalize 40 of the 82 regional rural banks (RRBs) is at risk as some of the state governments are either delaying or refusing to pay their share of money. Due to this, the government has only been able to recapitalize around 12 RRBs, with the stakeholders collectively infusing Rs. 300 crore. The cabinet had approved the Rs. 2,200 crore recapitalization plan of 40 RRBs in February,...

Media Reports The UID Aadhaar project planning and system design shortcomings and security risks at the national (or macro) level have been discussed elsewhere.1 The present article views the Aadhaar project at the system operational level, with practical considerations based on observed and probable functioning at the service delivery end. Consider the following report in a local daily, The Mysore Bugle: Food riots: PDS outlet vandalised Mysore: August 2, 2015—The PDS outlet in Ashokpuram...

The government is mulling a raft of incentives for special economic zone developers to encourage them to move away from urban centres and focus on economically backward regions. A senior official in the commerce ministry said SEZ developers might get wider tax concessions if they build economic hubs in underdeveloped areas. The government may also lower the minimum area ceiling to ease land acquisition by them, the official said. These incentives...

-The Economic Times   While attention has been riveted on illegal mining in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, thanks to the Supreme Court-ordered probe into the activities of key players, environmental activists and political parties have now turned their gaze to Congresscontrolled Goa. The western coastal state, which has rich deposits of iron ore, has now turned alive with charges of a Rs 8,000-crore mining scam. Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat's role, which has...