-Down to Earth Instead of encouraging them on paper, the government has to create a few model FPOs in the country and provide institutional support to them The Narendra Modi-led government has been tirelessly claiming that it would double farmers’ income by 2022. There is a lot of evidence to show that in the pursuance of this target, the income of farmers has not increased, but has rather stalled or decreased. Consequently,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday raised import duty on several textile products, including garments, scarves and carpets, as part of its plan to protect domestic manufacturers and support the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The tariff hike on 32 product categories comes after recent increases across several sectors, from mobile phone to TV sets and toys. A few weeks ago, the government had increased import duty on some...

-Newsclick.in Insurance companies have already earned about Rs.16,000 crore in three seasons. The much-hyped Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) – supposed to provide insurance protection to farmers against crop losses due to natural events – has turned into a bonanza for insurance companies while farmers are angry over delays in claim settlement, rejections and paltry compensation. Launched in 2016, four full seasons have passed since and the financial transactions show earnings...

-TheWire.in Mexican economist David Barkin on India's neoliberal economics, growing inequalities, agrarian distress and more. David Barkin is Professor of Economics at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City. He received his doctorate in economics from Yale University and was awarded the National Prize in Political Economics in 1979 for his analysis of inflation in Mexico. His research has focused on the development of an alternative to the capitalist economic model. In an...

-The Indian Express Rising cases of leprosy among Adivasis call for urgent public action. India officially eliminated Leprosy in 2005 by bringing the Prevalence Rate below 1/10000 at the national level. However, the National Health Policy 2017 (NHP), which will guide the health policy direction of the country over the next decade or so, still has elimination of Leprosy as a national level target. It is highly unlikely that India achieves elimination...