-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After the success with opening bank accounts and two insurance schemes, the government is lining up a major push for retirement savings under its financial inclusion programme. The finance ministry has begun talks to rope in 1.5 lakh post offices along with kirana shops and chemists to sell pension plans with an assurance of minimum returns. Sources told TOI that the department of posts, which is...

-The Times of India HYDERABAD: Tomatoes might soon go off the common man's dinner plate, thanks to a steep hike in prices of the vegetable triggered by widespread destruction of farmland by unseasonal floods. The staple food item at almost every kitchen, available at Rs 15/kg in the open market in April this year, has now jumped five-fold to Rs 75-80/kg. The sudden spike, has also become a talking point on twitter,...

-The Indian Express There is evidence to suggest that with a few modifications, MGNREGA can dent poverty. There are few government programmes that excite as much passion as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). For advocates, it is a lifeline for the rural poor. For critics, it is a programme that distorts labour markets and does far more harm than good. In this partisan quicksand, it is hard to...

-Economic and Political Weekly The platform known as the JAM Trinity (an acronym for Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and mobile numbers) may enable a shift from the current Public Distribution System, based on price subsidies, to the direct transfer of benefits. However, it is incorrect to argue that JAM technologies will necessarily lead to the demise of the PDS. State-level experiences of computerisation, recounted here, reveal that the same technologies can...

-Livemint.com India’s agricultural growth rate has hovered around 2-3% annually, when in fact it should be at least 5% India’s agriculture became moribund decades ago, and shows no sign of uplift for the long haul. Indeed, the rain gods have played havoc with Indian farmers. But not just the gods, Indian states have done precious little to tackle the problem head-on. The government’s solution is to give financial sops to farmers...