-The Hindu The Modi government’s policy is choking domestic demand at a time when global demand is also weak. This is hardly a recipe for double-digit growth. The title seems provocative. After all, for the last several months, we have all heard that India is now the fastest growing large economy in the world. The Finance Minister keeps assuring us that the country’s economic revival is on a firm footing and that...

-The Indian Express Since January 1, this year, every week between 20-30 suicides have been reported in eight districts of Marathwada Pune/Beed/Nanded: EVEN AS the ruling party and the opposition are sparring over granting of loan waiver to drought-hit farmers in Maharashtra, as many as 112 distressed farmers, rattled by mounting debts and withering crop, ended their lives this month in Marathwada region. This brought the toll to 1,109 this year. Compared...

-The Indian Express It doesn’t have sufficient power and independence, and seems unworkable. The absence of an adequately independent and empowered body to investigate and prosecute allegations of corruption, especially relating to the rich and the powerful, has been a longstanding concern in India. The Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC) relative independence has proved ineffective as it has few resources at its disposal while the CBI, which is relatively empowered, lacks independence —...

Agricultural insurance is supposed to protect farmers from financial hardships and risks when crop losses and damage takes place due to extreme weather events such as drought, cyclone, hailstorms, flood etc. However, in reality this does not hold true in India. Due to the failure of crop insurance schemes in India, there has been a deepening of agrarian crisis and rural distress in the recent times, particularly in the backdrop of...

-Livemint.com Telangana 9th state to declare drought, adding to the agrarian crisis and posing a threat to the rural economy New Delhi: Telangana has declared a drought in parts of the state, becoming the ninth state this year to do so, highlighting the agrarian crisis that could cause a likely fall in the production of rain-fed crops such as pulses, oilseeds and cotton, and result in a further slowing of the...