-The Hindu The government aims to sustain high growth and is likely to incorporate a 3-year road map. The NDA Government will present Budget 2016-17 in Parliament on February 29, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said on Thursday. The Government aims to sustain high growth and may incorporate a two-three year roadmap for economic policies, he said. “We are working hard on Budget that will be presented on February 29 and that...

-Hindustan Times Bhopal/Sagar: When 39-year-old Ram Dwivedi shot himself with a rifle in Uttar Pradesh’s water-starved Banda district a few months ago, it came as a shock even to local residents in the drought-ravaged Bundelkhand region. In the past few years, most people who committed suicide in the area were either tenants or small-time farmers. But despite having 20 acres of land, Dwivedi couldn’t generate enough income to sustain his six-member family. Hit...

-Down to Earth The new scheme will be unable to address the existing agrarian crises, say experts The Centre has approved a new crop insurance scheme for farmers that will replace two existing agriculture insurance schemes. The scheme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, was cleared at the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The new scheme promises less premium and early claim settlement. However, experts feel that it will unable to...

-The Financial Express Turning agriculture around should be the top priority of government in the new year. India became the world’s fastest-growing economy in 2015. Indian agriculture, however, fared much worse. Agriculture grew only by 0.2% in FY15. Two consecutive years of drought, unseasonal rains in rabi season and falling food prices in global markets have driven farmers to desperation. Turning agriculture around should be the top priority of government in the...

-The Hindu The public now sees the Internet not just in market terms, but as a social phenomenon that requires public interest regulation. In its aggressive campaign for Free Basics, couched in simplistic developmental language, Facebook underestimated the political sophistication of the Indian public. It must be regretting it now. The social networking service’s reportedly Rs. 100-crore campaign, through double full-page newspaper advertisements, billboards and television, appears simply to have congealed public...