-ANI Ludhiana (Punjab): "My father was under debt, no leader came for help," says a tear eyed Gursevak Singh, the son of a Punjab farmer who committed suicide. Gursevak's father, who was drenched in debt, committed suicide after his crops got damaged. "My father committed suicide, he was under debt and succumbing to the tension of repaying the loan he took the decision of ending his life. No leader helped us," he says. Ever...

-PTI Mumbai: Defying the impact of the note-ban which has yanked down consumer sentiment, rural wages have been on a steady upward spiral, rising by 7.3 per cent in November, suggesting a likely release of pent-up demand after demonetisation, says a report. “Nominal rural agricultural wages rose to 7.3 per cent year-on-year in November, from 6.9 per cent in October, remaining well above the previous 12-month average of 4.8 per cent,” Japanese...

-Hindustan Times Hamirgarh/ Dhanaula/ Chandigarh: Gurpreet Singh and Sandeep Duggal have more than 350 friends on Facebook. At 19, Gurpreet’s profile clearly gravitates to pictures of youth – astride an Enfield motorCycle, one with a friend in the corridors of a college, and the quintessential selfie with sunglasses. Duggal’s is more subdued. In a black-and-white profile photograph, he smiles with arms folded, exuding the confidence of a young man who identifies himself...

-The Hindu The ‘batta’ system of rolling financing has shrunk as money cannot be withdrawn from banks, and bearer cheques pile up Varanasi: For the already distressed weavers and poorly paid labourers in the famous Banarasi sari industry, demonetisation has come as a crippling blow. Withdrawal limits of Rs. 50,000 on current accounts (around a 10th of the actual requirement in the trade) and falling business post November 8 have constrained traders from...

-Hindustan Times Dehradun: Digamber Negi, 37-year-old farmer in picturesque Doon Dwara village on the border of Dehradun-Tehri Garhwal districts, is cursing his fate after monkeys barged into his field a week ago and destroyed vegetable crop. Like Negi, several other villagers have similar plight to share. The village has a population of 320 people and they are dependent only on agriculture. Villagers complain that in the past one decade or so, attacks by...