-TheWire.in The move itself reveals a deep-seated pro-consumer and anti-producer bias that has been, in large part, the reason for the agriculture economy being in doldrums. New Delhi: The government has decided to import onions from ‘Pakistan, Egypt, China, Afghanistan or any other origin’, according to a Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation Limited notifications. Some concerns were raised about importing from Pakistan. “And why import from Pakistan? Is the Indian farmer a...

-Financial Express We have been hearing the expression ‘Industry 4.0’ ever since the idea of ‘smart factory’ was unveiled in Hannover in April 2013. Many opine ‘Agriculture 4.0’ akin to 4G of telecom. I believe Agriculture 4.0 is “going back to basics, but with technology as its underpinning” to usher in sustainability, in the wake of climate change and degradation of our agricultural ecosystems. We need to re-look at agriculture with...

-Hindustan Times India’s obsession with keeping food prices low, even when there’s no inflationary pressure, has long hurt farm incomes Farming is gloriously uncertain, thanks not just to uncertain weather, but also unpredictable policies. Let’s zoom into the finances of Bhupinder Pal Singh, a horticulturist from Babbain, a village in Haryana, a state that counts itself among the FIRst places where India’s Green Revolution of 1960s began. In good years, Singh would earn...

-TheWire.in From $1 billion in 2012 to over $13 billion in 2018, higher remittances could indicate greater spending abroad as rich Indians look to diversify or the beginnings of a flight of capital. New Delhi: Indians sent more money out of the country than ever before in July 2019 under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS), in a development that comes even as the Narendra Modi government looks to attract foreign direct...

-The Economic Times Labour ministry proposes to hand over reins; dedicated funds for provident fund, pension & insurance schemes to be administered by a Central Board. NEW DELHI: The labour ministry has proposed to hand over control of the over Rs 10 lakh crore corpus of provident fund, pension and insurance schemes under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to a central body, which will have a central government-appointed chairman. Unlike the...