-PTI Pune: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's labour arm has asked the Narendra Modi government to take note of the "immediate adverse side effects" of demonetisation while welcoming what it called a "rare" opportunity to help those less privileged. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh also cautioned the government against pressuring people to go digital. "We take serious note of the immediate adverse side effects like defects in implementation, cash shortage, slowdown in market, job losses,...

-VillageSquare.in Independent and small beekeepers are uniting against adulterated and diluted honey sold in the domestic market by companies fighting a price war Amravati (Maharashtra): After a long hiatus of eight years, the purple-colored Karvi flower (Strobilanthes callosus) bloomed in the low hills of western Maharashtra, heightening the spirits of people like Ashok Shelar of Warsoi Koli village, neighboring Maharashtra’s favorite hill station, Mahabaleshwar. A proud owner of 80 bee colonies, he...

-Bangalore Mirror ICAR researchers say subsidised electricity benefitting only medium and large farmers Stating that the policy decision to provide free or subsidised electricity has been a key driver for widespread groundwater exploitation, estimates by ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Ballari, reveal that in Karnataka, groundwater depletion has forced farmers to drill up to depths of 200 to 300 metres, costing about Rs 2.5-3 lakh for a successful...

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) election manifesto for 2014 Lok Sabha election says that if elected to the Centre, it will then "(p)ut in place welfare measures for farmers above 60 years in age, small and marginal farmers and farm labours", among other things. Despite the formation of a BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre in 2014, the latest available data on farm suicides from the...

-Scroll.in India’s first chief statistician, Pronab Sen, is now country director of the International Growth Centre, which seeks to build effective growth facilities through engagement between policymakers and researchers. In this interview to Scroll.in, he speaks on the 50 days of demonetisation, its failings, its severe impact on the poor, the loss of credibility of the Reserve Bank of India, the push to make India a cashless or less-cash economy, and...