-The Hindu Powerful lobbies with vested interests see agroecology as a threat to their influence on farming systems Agroecology is recognised worldwide as a system that enhances fertile landscapes, increases yields, restores soil health and biodiversity, promotes climate resilience and improves farmers’ well-being. Its practices are supported by many agricultural scientists, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, farmers’ groups and several NGOs. It is therefore surprising that...

-The Hindu Lok Sabha clears Aadhaar amendment Bill amid stiff opposition. The Lok Sabha cleared the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 by a Voice Vote on Thursday. The Bill replaces an Ordinance promulgated on March 2 and provides for a stiff ?1 crore penalty and a jail term to private entities for storing Aadhaar data. It also makes the use of Aadhaar voluntary for opening a bank account, securing a mobile phone...

-The Hindu A $5 trillion Indian economy may be attainable if domestic saving and investment are stepped up In early June, at a NITI Aayog meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a clear and bold economic target — to grow India into a $5 trillion economy by 2024. It is now for ‘Team India’, as the meeting was bannered, to translate this target into a plan and policies and programmes. Historically, such...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With parties gearing up to enter ‘election mode’ for assembly elections, politicians are not leaving any stone unturned to woo voters. The BJP-led south corporation has cleared the proposal to make the process of issuance of birth and death certificates free of cost. According to the proposal, the certificates will be available via websites and through zonal offices without paying any charges. The move, if implemented,...

-TheWire.in Veerpal Kaur, who lost her father and then husband to the growing spate of farmer suicides in Punjab, says neither the SAD-BJP alliance nor the Congress is addressing the issue. Dharamvir Singh was being considered, one thing played in their favour – both the bride and groom had lost their fathers, both farmers, to suicide. Kaur’s father drank poison in 1995 and Singh’s hanged himself in 1990. “That was what clinched it....