-Business Standard The well-irrigated states of Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, western Uttar Pradesh and coastal states such as Odisha are, for the first time, feeling the effects of a poor monsoon Bhopal/ New Delhi/ Bhubaneshwar: Farmers are faced with a multitude of problems. Cotton and basmati rice growers in Punjab and sugarcane farmers in west UP are under stress due to the non-payment of insurance and state compensation. Growers in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh,...

-The Hindu Ten years of implementation of the Right to Information Act has spawned a new breed of activism and citizenship The Right to Information (RTI) Act has completed 10 years of implementation. According to a conservative estimate based on the Information Commission’s annual reports, there are at least 50 lakh RTI applications filed in India every year. The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative used the data to estimate that just under 1...

-Livemint.com The govt did increase compensation for crop damage to 50% and even relaxed norms for claims but farmers will get less than a fifth of what they have lost to drought New Delhi: In April, Narendra Modi announced an increase in compensation for crop damage, a move the prime minister termed as a landmark decision and one that will impose a great burden on his government. His announcement followed unseasonal...

-The Indian Express Punjab is a case study in agricultural and economic mismanagement in India From the breadbasket of India, Punjab has become a basket-case economy. Endowed with ample water and good soil, Punjab’s happy, progressive people had a dream that is now a distant memory. Punjab’s decline started with its trifurcation. In its bid to establish a separate identity, the poli-tical establishment obsessed over a religious-political agenda and steered the state...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Alarmed by stringent criticism of his government, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the controversial order on sedition charges will be scrapped as early as possible. "We are scrapping the controversial circular. We do not require it. We will inform the Bombay high court accordingly," Fadnavis told TOI. In response to a petition filed by cartoonist Aseem Trivedi and a public interest litigation by Narendra Sharma, a...