-The Hindu Surveys, including the recently leaked one on consumer expenditure, point to the economy’s dire state How fast has India grown lately? And, what are the yardsticks on which the country’s performance is being measured? These have remained contentious questions. Following the last decade’s boom, the economy was slowing after 2011-2012, but apparently turned around under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime. Until very recently, the government claimed the economic success...

-The Indian Express The RTI documents also show that over the 12 phases, just four cities accounted for 83 per cent of all electoral bonds by value. Electoral bonds with denomination of Rs 1 crore accounted for more than 91 per cent of the Rs 5,896 crore raised in the first eleven of the total twelve phases over which bonds were sold by select branches of the State Bank of India.   ...

-Livemint.com * At a time when rural incomes are sliding, the only existing safety net for the farmer is failing * High costs of reinsurance due to erratic weather, a spike in claims, political interference in crop loss estimation are reasons that forced some insurers to leave the business NEW DELHI: Santosh Kumar’s first brush with insurance left a bitter aftertaste. A farmer’s son, 26-year-old Kumar from Bihar’s Araria district felt betrayed when...

-TheWire.in The Agriculture Insurance Company of India returned farmers' premiums after one year, claiming that details had not been provided in "soft copy". The bank, however, has not credited the refund into farmers' accounts. Satlana (Jodhpur, Rajasthan): Thousands of farmers in the Satlana gram panchayat of Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), have been denied insurance claims for two crop seasons – kharif 2016 and kharif 2017. The...

-Down to Earth Antibiotics are indiscriminately used on food crops in several parts of the country, adding to the burden of antibiotic resistance    Dharampal Singh just cannot stop admiring the cauliflowers glistening with beads of dew on his farm near the Yamuna banks in Delhi. Next to the plot, rows of radishes, spinach, fenugreek and bottle gourds lie shining in the morning sun. “These untainted vegetables fetch me a premium in the...