-The Hindu The government has declared an incentive package to encourage non-cash payments for fuel, new insurance policies from public sector firms, train tickets and highway toll, among other things. For credit and debit card transactions up to Rs.2,000, the Reserve Bank of India has relaxed its stringent two-factor authentication requirement, and service tax stands waived. Taken together, these moves to encourage cashless payments are significant not just because they can...

-The Financial Express More than 3.66 crore farmers of the estimated 14 crore in the country were enrolled with the NDA government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in the recently-concluded kharif season (2016-17) and overall coverage of crop insurance is set to surpass the target set for the year, an agriculture ministry statement on Wednesday stated. “As on date the scheme has provided coverage to 3.66 crore farmers (26.50%) and...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) launched during the 2016 kharif season to help farmers insure their crops against natural calamities has provided coverage to 366.64 lakh farmers (26.50%), the agriculture ministry has said. The ministry expects the scheme to exceed the target of 30% coverage for both kharif and rabi seasons in 2016-17. The scheme covers 388.62 lakh hectare with sum insured of Rs 1, 41,339...

-Livemint.com To increase farmers’ enrolment in the PMFBY, the Karnataka government started deducting compulsory insurance premiums for almost all crop loans disbursed Bengaluru: The Karnataka government’s initiatives to enrol more farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY)—to ensure continued Central assistance to help mitigate the economic impact of deficient rainfalls and resulting crop damage—seems to have paid off as the number of enrolments in the state during the Kharif...

-Livemint.com Only 23.6% of farmers enrolled for the scheme in 2016, against 22.2% in 2015 New Delhi: Despite setting an ambitious target to cover half of all farmers under crop insurance, the first season rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been tepid. According to the agriculture ministry, during the kharif 2016 season beginning June this year, 32.6 million farmers enrolled under PMFBY. While that is a 6.3% rise in...