-Business Standard India’s Growth in agriculture and allied activities has struggled to reach the targeted four per cent average a year in the first three years of the 12th five-year Plan because of a host of factors. The below-average farm Growth is widely expected to deepen the crisis in the farm sector. In an interview with Sanjeeb Mukherjee, newly-appointed member of NITI Aayog and eminent agriculture economist Ramesh Chand  said over-reliance...

-The Times of India Politicians might try hard to push Hindi, but people are voting with their feet, opting to put their children in English-medium schools. While overall enrolment in schools went up by just 7.5% between 2008-09 and 2013-14, and enrolment in Hindi-medium schools went up by about 25%, enrolment in English-medium schools almost doubled in the same period. While the number of English-medium school students is still dwarfed by those in...

-Business Standard Cabinet note soon on Rs 1,800-cr investment over 5 years to boost sector, skills To push fish production, the Centre is formulating a programme to tap water reservoirs and neglected water bodies such as wetlands for breeding through modern technologies. The programme, part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a Blue Revolution, entails Rs 1,800 crore over the next five years, much lower than what was envisaged by a working...

-The Indian Express Various Dalit rights groups have gathered in New York over the weekend to demand that the lapse be addressed by at least ensuring that the caste is recognised in the list of “indicators”, which will be used to monitor the implementation of the SDGs. New York: While inclusive development is one of the principles written into the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the member nations at the...

-The Indian Express Government’s actions on the commodity reveals it is ignorant of how a market economy is run With each passing day this year, agriculture seems to be sagging and so is the Indian farmer. Deficit monsoon rains appear to be the trigger. Although rains offered some respite to Marathwada, the situation in India’s largest agri-state, Uttar Pradesh, has gone from bad to worse. Last year’s drought, with monsoon rains falling...