-HuffingtonPost.in   Going back to the grassroots.   Gone are the days when businesses focused solely on the bottom lines; today more and more corporates are embracing the concept of the 3 Ps: People, Profit, and Planet. As more and more organisations step up to do their bit for the community and the environment, many opportunities are opening up to improve and impact both the urban and especially the rural landscapes. Here's a quick...

-The Hindu The Maharashtra government’s decision to promulgate an ordinance this week to exempt farmers from having to mandatorily sell their fruit and vegetable crop at mandis governed by a 1963 law on marketing farm produce, is a bold and laudable step. That Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stood his ground against the powerful lobby of middlemen, who shut shop in protest, is even more commendable. The problem with the present...

-The Financial Express Persistence of high food inflation can harden the monetary policy stance and make fiscal choices difficult Food inflation increased to 7.9% in May 2016 as against 4.23% in April. This sudden spurt in food inflation is attributed to vegetable prices, followed by pulses and sugar. Is this a short-term spike or will it be a persistent one? If it is going to be a persistent one with pass-through effects,...

-The Hindu Business Line   Icrisat-Microsoft develop solution that analyses massive data to predict the right time Hyderabad: Forget about weather SMSes or marketing tips to farmers over the phone. Now, an app-based solution can tell farmers when to sow their seeds. Sifting massive volumes of data, this app will help farmers in Andhra Pradesh to pick the perfect sowing week. The advice could vary from farmer to farmer and from village to...

-Hindustan Times The government could move away from large hikes in support prices for farmers, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh hinted on Wednesday, signalling a key farm policy shift aimed at rationalising subsidies and taming inflation. The minister said some people thought the “only way to shore up farmer income is through minimum support prices”. “Wrong. This alone won’t do unless farmers diversify their activities into livestock, kitchen gardens, fishery etc. That’s our...