A recent one-liner about the achievement of the present Central government goes like this: bovine has become ‘divine’ during the NDA’s rule. But why do such jokes originate? Media reports suggest that unprecedented aggression has taken place during the recent months in the name of the peaceful looking animal – cow. Mob lynching and killings by fringe groups have been reported from various parts of the country, especially targeting Muslims and...

-Business Standard Says over Rs 32,000-crore released to insurers from 2011-16 without verification of beneficiaries The crop insurance continues to be a problematic area despite the Centre launching the much-touted Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from Kharif 2016 replacing two old schemes with no or marginal increase in coverage of non-loanee farmers, lower sum insured as compared to scale of finance and delayed claim settlement which defeated the very purpose of...

-The Hindu Business Line Entitlements of developed countries need to be eliminated before other reforms, study suggests New Delhi: Seeking to expose the double-standards of developed countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a joint paper by India and China has revealed that rich nations, including the US, the EU and Canada, have been consistently giving trade-distorting subsidies to their farmers at levels much higher than the ceiling applied on developing countries....

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: India’s flagship national agricultural insurance programme — Pradhan Mantri Fazal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) — is found seriously wanting in its implementation at ground level, New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said on Friday. “PMFBY is a classic case of poor implementation of a good scheme,” said Chandra Bhushan, CSE deputy director, at a meeting here. This is because at the State level, PMFBY vision...

-The Hindu Strengthening the repayment capacity of farmers by improving and stabilising their income is the only way to keep them out of distress Indian agriculture is characterised by low scale and low productivity. About 85% of the operational landholdings in the country are below 5 acres and 67% farm households survive on an average landholding of one acre. More than half of the area under cultivation does not have access to...