-Newsclick.in A fact check reveals the reality behind jaw dropping ‘achievements’ claimed by the BJP govt. in UP in full front-page ads in national dailies. On 13 June, Yogi Adityanath’s BJP govt. of Uttar Pradesh issued costly full page advertisements in national dailies with a slew of claims about how agriculture in the state has achieved unprecedented heights under the one-year old govt. the ads, adorned with smiling faces of Prime Minister...

-Down to Earth While sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh owe about Rs 12,500 crore to farmers, the government’s measures were directed mostly towards tackling current price crash In a knee-jerk reaction to the defeat in Kairana by-elections, the Narendra Modi government, on Wednesday, took a slew of policy decisions related to sugarcane industry. The plight of sugarcane farmers was a big issue during the recently concluded by-elections in this town in...

-The Tribune The CobraPost sting reveals that the independence of the media and its ability to bring about transparency by playing an adversarial role against the establishment get compromised because of corruption within the folds of the media itself. The  sting operations conducted by CobraPost, among other things, highlight how pervasive the phenomenon of paid news is at present in much of the mainstream media in India. Corruption in the media is...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Dealing a second blow to the Election Commission’s position on an issue in less than six months, the Delhi High Court has last week set aside the EC order disqualifying BJP’s Cabinet minister in Madhya Pradesh Narottam Mishra, on grounds of paid news. The latest HC order could draw a red line for the EC on the subject of ‘paid news’ as it says that the Commission’s...

-The Tribune Contract farming is a much-needed vehicle to bring new crops, technologies, and markets to farmers. However, the new model Act 2018 opens up agricultural markets to contracting agencies without adequate safeguards for farmers. The first attempt at reforms in agricultural markets was made by the union government with the design of a model Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act in 2003 which provided for new market channels for farmers and...