-The Hindu Business Line Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised one crore jobs during the 2014 elections. At the present rate of job creation, this will take 30 years. Muthukumar K and Seetharaman R report on the employment crisis Raj Abraham (name changed on request), a first-year student at a leading management institute in Chennai, is a bit anxious these days. Ask him how his seniors are faring in campus placement and the...

-The Hindu These VVPAT machines will be manufactured only as per the design approved by the Election Commission. The Election Commission has issued letter of intent for purchase of 16.15 lakh Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, following a clearance by the Union Cabinet on fund allocations. The machines will be procured in 2017-18 and 2018-19 at an estimated cost of ?3,173.47 crore from public sector undertakings BEL and ECIL. “In its letter sent...

-The Hindu There is no case for water privatisation. In pushing for it, we are ignoring the key issue, which is better governance, writes Himanshu Thakkar Privatisation of water is unwarranted, unjustified and unnecessary. In pushing for it, we are not really addressing the key issue plaguing the water sector, which is a need for better governance. We need a democratic, transparent, accountable and participatory governance in a bottom-up approach, on each...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD), country's national weather forecaster, on Tuesday predicted normal monsoon rainfall for the year, sending a positive signal to the farm sector and the overall economy. "Even the distribution of the rainfall is expected to be good this year," said IMD chief KJ Ramesh, sounding quite optimistic about the prospect of having a good year for the country's agriculture. Good spatial distribution...

-Livemint.com Mint’s rural distress index is below its median value, but it conceals varying distress levels across states Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s announcement of farm loan waiver has given credence to similar demands from across the country. Those making these demands include political parties, protesting farmers and even the judiciary. An earlier Plainfacts column had pointed out how farm loan waivers can be counter-productive in the long run, a fact...