-Hindustan Times Herein lies the crisis of farmer politicians. They have neither aspirations nor the power of coercion working for them. Rural distress dominated discussions around the political-economy in 2017, and will likely continue to do so in 2018, much to the consternation of political incumbents. Those in opposition will be looking forward to harvesting this anger for their own benefit. One question is worth asking though. Where is the farmer-politician in...

-The New Indian Express NEW DELHI: The last full Budget of the NDA government is likely to give a major push to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by earmarking more funds for it. Sources said Budget 2018-19 will allocate around 20 per cent more for the rural jobs scheme compared to last year. The flagship scheme, started by Manmohan Singh’s UPA regime, is benefiting about 11 crore active...

-The Economic Times New Delhi: The government has come out with a draft model contract farming act, which industry insiders said will protect farmers from price risks and encourage food processing companies to invest more in infrastructure and farming technology once states adopt it. The agriculture ministry has put up the model act on its website for various stakeholders, including contract farming and value chain promoting companies, producers' organisations and farmers, to...

-The Indian Express Over-inclusive, says Chidambaram, it keeps out even those convicted of non-financial crime As Rajya Sabha cleared the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Amendment Bill Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government has entered unchartered territory and would continue to modify the law. “Insolvency and bankruptcy is an area in which it is only in recent years that we have chartered into. It is a learning experience,” Jaitley said in...

-PTI The Indian steel industry contributes approximately 2 per cent to the country's GDP New Delhi: Iron and steel sector accounts for about 24 per cent of total gross non-performing assets (GNPA) in basic metal and metal product category for public sector banks (PSBs), according to the Ministry of Steel. "The share of gross non-performing assets (GNPA) for iron and steel in basic metal and metal product category as on September 30, 2017...