The phenomenal growth in foodgrain production witnessed in the 2016-17 crop year will not repeat this year. Early prediction by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare shows that the kharif foodgrain production in 2017-18 may likely to fall by 2.8 percent as compared that in the previous year. The kharif foodgrain production is expected to decline from 138.5 million tonnes in 2016-17 to 134.7 million tonnes in 2017-18. Readers...

-The Times of India BENGALURU: In last year's budget, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley promised a health cover of Rs 1 lakh per poor family under the National Health Protection Scheme, which was meant to replace the UPA government's Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). However, with the programme yet to see the light of day, the Centre is forced to continue with RSBY, which seems to be losing ground. An RTI application...

-Hindustan Times Over the years, in the absence of competent faculty and industry training facilities, most B-schools other than the premiere institutes began churning out graduates who were far from job-ready. Job offers for fresh management graduates in India are at a five-year low, official data show, a trend experts blame on a sluggish economy as well as a mismatch between the years-old curriculum and industry expectations. In 2016-17, just 47% of Master...

-The Indian Express Price fluctuation and low and unremunerative prices for farm produce can be addressed through competitive markets, and much-needed reforms. EXTREME volatility in the prices of some food commodities has, in recent years, been hurting producers as well as consumers, while also disrupting certain economic activities. The reason for this appears to be the waning influence of non-price factors (technology, irrigation, extension) in driving growth, and the role of prices...

-Livemint.com Wholesale prices of just-harvested kharif pulses have dropped below the government’s minimum support prices (MSP) despite a lower crop output New Delhi: Wholesale prices of just harvested kharif pulses have dropped below the government’s minimum support prices (MSP) despite a lower crop output, forcing farmers to sell their produce at a loss in states such as Rajasthan. For instance, price data from wholesale markets available on the Agmarket website showed that on...