-Livemint.com At some 200-plus tur procurement centres in Maharashtra, where Nafed had agreed to purchase the crop till 31 May, the desperation of thousands of farmers represent all that is wrong with government intervention in the Agriculture market Wardha, Hinganghat (Vidarbha): Santosh Borkute, a cotton and tur cultivator in Amla village of Wardha district in Vidarbha region, has learned from Marathi newspapers that the Narendra Modi government has completed three years in...

-The Economic Times MUMBAI: What has made the Maharashtra farmer hit the streets, dump his produce and even attack suppliers? A combination of weather, unscrupulous middlemen and lack of discretion on crop seems to have wreaked havoc on their lives. Rainfall in Maharashtra has been deficient in 2011 and the situation turned worse leading to a severe drought till 2015. In 2016, farmers got relief with normal rains, when they got back...

-Livemint.com The BJP government, which came to power on the promise of creating 20 million jobs per year, has not yet recognized the gravity of the situation The Central Statistical Office (CSO) has released the full-year growth estimates for 2016-17. These had been much awaited given the uncertainty over the impact of demonetization. These were on expected lines, with fourth quarter growth in gross value added (GVA) in 2016-17 declining to 5.6%...

-The Indian Express A smooth GST regime can break inter-state barriers on movement and facilitate direct linkages between processors and farmers After more than a decade of intense discussion and debate, the GST is finally becoming a reality. Although in its current form, it is not as perfect as was originally envisaged, yet it is being lauded as one of the most transformational reforms since 1991. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was humble...

-The Indian Express Devendra Fadnavis said, “The loan waiver, which will come into force by October 31, 2017, will be restricted to small and marginal farmers with land holdings of five acres.” Pune: In the face of spiralling protests across Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday announced a farm loan waiver of Rs 30,000 crore, the biggest such write-off for farmers in the state. But by afternoon, it was clear that...