-The Indian Express What is disturbing is that in the middle of the current crisis some are now calling for a massive downsizing of the PDS and a shift to cash transfers in place of foodgrains. The Public Distribution System has played an important role in providing relief to people in the aftermath of the national lockdown. With COVID-19 cases increasing and the economy continuing to be in a downturn, some corrective...

-The Telegraph High toll indicates that the system has not made any significant difference Patna: At least 83 people were killed by lightning across Bihar on Thursday as heavy rains and thunderstorms lashed the state. “A total of 83 people have lost their lives in lightning strikes in 23 out of 38 districts in Bihar till Thursday evening. Of these, 13 deaths have taken place in Gopalganj, eight each in Madhubani and Nawada,...

-The Hindu Flooding hits OIL well blowout capping operation, AIR station in Dibrugarh inundated Guwahati: A landslip, induced by heavy rainfall, killed a minor in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar on Thursday while a woman drowned in twin city Naharlagun. Another person drowned in Assam’s Dhemaji district as the death toll in floods and landslips since mid-May rose to 36. Officials in Itanagar said the body of the minor was retrieved from under the...

-The Indian Express That’s the actual liquidity pumped into rural areas by government post lockdown – THRough grain procurement, PM-Kisan and MGNREGA wages. There are many parallels one can draw between the novel coronavirus-induced lockdown (gharbandi) and demonetisation (notebandi), in terms of their impact on India’s farm economy. Both resulted in the same thing – demand destruction – albeit THRough different routes. Notebandi caused a haemorrhaging of liquidity from the predominantly cash-based farm...

-The Hindu Food security and farmer welfare are intertwined It is ironic that it took a devastating pandemic to force the government’s hand for long-overdue agrarian reforms. Amendments have been made to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Finance Minister has urged States to dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees. Several long-term changes have been made to the agricultural sector, such as fair pricing and e-trading, along with liquidity measures. The Centre...