-TheWire.in Supriya RoyChowdhury's 'City of Shadows' is a compelling study of the lives of the poor in a rapidly globalising Bengaluru. The long caravans of workers leaving the cities for their villages during the national lockdown in 2020 made visible the large proportion of urban workers whose homes are in the villages. Combined with the farmers’ protests, they brought attention to the crisis in agriculture and the failure of agrarian livelihoods that...

-The Telegraph The November figures stand out vis-a-vis a modest 2.29 per cent in the same month last year Wholesale inflation spiked to a 30-year high at 14.23 per cent in November — a level that hasn’t been seen since India embraced economic liberalisation in 1991. The surge was led by a vault in the prices of food, fuel and power, basic metals and chemical products. Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI)...

-The Hindu The Socio-Economic Caste Census, 2011 was organised not as an OBC survey but to get the caste status of all in the country in order to improve the delivery of targeted benefits, the Centre said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the law negated a caste census and “the Constitution believes in population and not in caste or religion” even as the Centre insisted that data collated during a Socio-Economic...

-FactChecker.in While Zero Budget Natural Farming promotes chemical-free agricultural practices, data regarding the method's effectiveness still insufficient Zero Budget Natural Farming has been on the government's agenda, which got another push from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 14, 2021. While addressing an event marking the 98th anniversary celebration of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan in Varanasi, Modi said Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) should become a mass movement and people should...

-IdeasforIndia.com The Centre has sought an additional Rs. 25,000 crore as funding for MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). Based on simple calculations using official data, Ashwini Kulkarni contends that the actual fund requirement is in fact much higher. As the pandemic continues to adversely impact rural livelihoods, the government should allocate sufficient funds to MNREGA, in order to honour the work-on-demand guarantee. For over a month, national and local...