-PTI Crude oil and natural gas contract; the previous low of 0.9% was recorded in December 2015 New Delhi: The growth of eight core sectors slipped to over one-year low of 1% in February mainly due to decline in output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers and cement. The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity was 9.4% in...

-The Times of India Just over one lakh jobs were added between April 1 and October 1 last year in eight key non-farm sectors of the Economy.ranging from manufacturing and construction to IT/BPO, education and health, according to a recent government report. Is this good or bad? Considering that these eight sectors together employ over two crore workers, the net addition of new jobs amounts to a mere half a per...

-The Hindu Business Line Bengaluru: “There is no wateror fodder this year, and it has become tough to manage my three cows,” says Nagamma, a dairy farmer at Maradevanahalli village in Maddur taluk. The cows and her one-acre farm are her only sources of livelihood. “The milk yields have reduced: these days I get only about 5-6 litres, against 10-12 litres earlier,” she adds. The Maradevanahalli village panchayat provides about 200 litres...

-PRS Legislative Research The key findings of the report entitled: State of Agriculture in India by Tanvi Deshpande (March, 2017) are as follows: * The agriculture sector employs nearly half of the workforce in the country.  However, it contributes to 17.5% of the GDP (at current prices in 2015-16). * Over the past few decades, the manufacturing and services sectors have increasingly contributed to the growth of the Economy. while the agriculture sector’s...

-Livemint.com In the case of repeated farm loan waivers, it makes sense for borrowers to default strategically Hope: The Narendra Modi government says it wants to double farm income by 2022 through the transformation of Indian agriculture. Reality: The political discourse continues to focus perversely on farm loan waivers. Here are some recent instances. The new Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh is considering a farm loan waiver as promised in its election...