-The Hindu From a persisting cash crunch due to demonetisation to a price free fall because of a bumper produce, it’s a big bag of woes for farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Mahesh Langa and Jayant Sriram report on the gathering storm as their protests for a fairer deal threaten to escalate Abhishek Patidar, 19, had just passed his Class 11 exam this year with dreams of becoming a doctor. His...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Farmers have started preparing land for growing kharif crops following onset of monsoon rains in some parts of the country. This time round, farmers are expected to BRIng 107 million hectares under cultivation for paddy, soyabean, pulses, cotton, bajra, jowar, groundnut and maize, raising hopes of a bigger grain harvest this year. Companies and analysts said the acreage under cotton could surpass soyabean and pulses as prices are...

-The Hindu A big push on private investment is needed. But social harmony is also a prerequisite for faster growth The National Income numbers for 2016-17 have been released. What do they convey? What do they hold for the immediate future? BRIefly, this is the picture. Recent revisions in the Index of Industrial Production and Wholesale Price Index do not alter the annual growth rates for the recent years. The differences are in...

-The Economic Times blog Finance minister Arun Jaitley was correct when he stated in April that constitutional constraints do not empower his government to tax agricultural income, implying that he is not constrained from amending the Income-Tax Act. B R Ambedkar, in framing the Constitution, was vehemently critical of BRItish land revenue system, the foundation for which was laid during the Mughal period, and strengthened by the East India Company, which...

-Livemint.com Activists who are ideologically opposed to genetically modified crop technology have unleashed a virulent campaign to stall the GM Mustard cultivation Seven-and-a-half years ago, BT BRInjal, developed by two public agricultural universities, was approved for commercial cultivation by the genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC), a statutory body. BT BRInjal is inherently resistant to the notorious fruit and shoot borer (FSB) pest and therefore produces a marketable crop without the large number...