-TheWire.in Researchers have found that small and marginal farmers and Dalit landless labourers are worst affected by the region's agrarian distress. Sangrur/Patiala (Punjab): In the villages of Punjab, strike a conversation on farming  expenses with anyone, and they will say, “Karja tan hai hi (Of course, we have taken loans).” It’s these loans – from both institutional and non-institutional sources – that largely help the rural economy run in the state. But...

-The Indian Express India's economy in 2020: As Annus Horribilis 2020 comes to an end, there are positives in the economy: signs of a GDP rebound, and buoyant equity markets. But demand is weak, receipts are down, and the employment situation is grim. All eyes are on the Budget — and on the vaccines In a little over a month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present what she has heralded as “a...

-The Indian Express The Centre is within its rights to enact laws promoting barrier-free trade of farm produce (inter- as well as intra-state) and also dismantling stockholding restrictions. But that can be only after the farmer has sold. In November 2019, the Fifteenth Finance Commission submitted its interim report, wherein it proposed special “performance based incentives” to states that carried out agriculture sector reforms. These reforms specifically pertained to their enacting and implementing...

-NetworkIdeas.org The complete absence of any meaningful fiscal response from the Indian Government in the face of one of the biggest economic crises ever faced, cries out for explanation. One argument has been that the central Government is concerned about its external vulnerability: a large increase in public spending could generate higher imports, thereby worsening the trade deficit at a time when volatile capital flows have already made the balance of...

-Newsclick.in The move is aimed at helping corporate biggies that have recently forayed into the commercial coal mining sector. New Delhi: In yet another attempt to help corporate biggies that have recently forayed into commercial coal mining, the Narendra Modi Government has tweaked an environmental law to allow extraction of combustible mineral even before obtaining final forest clearance. The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change...