In its 2014 election manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), among other things, promised to "take steps to enhance the profitability in agriculture, by ensuring a minimum of 50% profits over the cost of production". In his 2018-19 Union budget speech too, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley informed the Parliament that the 2014 election manifesto of the BJP had stated that the farmers should get at least 1.5 times the...

-Livemint.com This Uttar Pradesh village offers a microcosm of the broader change in Indian villages since independence Palanpur is a relatively unknown small village in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. However, it has a special place in development economics because of a research project that has stretched over seven decades. Economists have conducted seven detailed surveys of Palanpur since the 1950s, a rare longitudinal database that shows how the village has changed...

-The Hindu The former Chief Election Commissioner on the EVM controversy, why the Supreme Court’s verdict on criminals in politics is a missed opportunity, and electoral bonds The debate on the reliability of electronic voting Machines (EVMs) refuses to settle, with political parties continuing to voice their concerns about malfunctioning Machines. Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi explains how EVMs work, why he is disappointed with the Supreme Court for refusing to...

-The Hindu Various steps need to be taken to strengthen social audits “A good auditor is a good listener” said President Ram Nath Kovind during his recent speech at the 29th Accountants General Conference. “You will not only see the accounts in their books, but also listen to their accounts,” he said. It is only when this conception is accepted that audits will return to their democratic roots, and social audits in...

-The Tribune Muktsar: Harbrinder Singh Gill, a farmer from Tarmala village of the Malout subdivision here, claims to have found an indigenous way to tackle stubble burning and sowing wheat using a pocket-friendly Machine. Even officials of the Agriculture Department visited and inspected his fields and were satisfied with his creation. Harbrinder claimed that he had sown wheat crop on 38 acres by using his Machine, which he invented four years ago....