-Livemint.com China’s example shows the benefits of the rural workforce shifting from the farm to the non-farm sector The government announced its ambitious dream of doubling farmers’ income by 2022-23 in 2015-16. Incomes would have to grow annually by 10.4% to double in seven years. The data on growth rates of farm income given by NITI Aayog in its policy paper on doubling farmers’ income shows that the real income of farmers has...

-The Hindu Abandoning the daily price revision of petrol and diesel sets back an important reform The price of oil has been shooting up for weeks now, with Brent crude oil futures hitting their highest level in more than three years on Monday, at more than $75. But for two weeks now, the state-owned oil companies have kept petrol and diesel prices unchanged. Since April 24, the oil companies have abandoned the...

-PTI New Delhi: A fortnight before Karnataka goes to polls, PSU oil firms have stopped revising petrol and diesel prices although benchmark international rates have gone up by almost $2 per barrel. The daily price notification issued by oil firms showed that petrol and diesel prices have been static since April 24. This is despite the benchmark international rate for petrol going up from $78.84 a barrel, which was cited for raising the...

-The Indian Express While the total taxpayer base grew at an average rate of about 7.9 per cent a year, individual taxpayers recorded an average annual growth rate of 8.2 per cent in these five years, inching up from 94 per cent in AY 2011-12 to 94.9 per cent in AY 2016-17, according to official data. New Delhi: Even as the country’s total taxpayer base increased to 6.41 crore in assessment year...

-The Indian Express In the battle over jungle and tribal land, deep mistrust divides natural allies. As India gives shape to its new forest policy, the votaries of forest conservation and tribal rights have come out strongly against commercial extraction of forests that undermines both local communities and ecology. It is a timely show of strength since the draft policy seeks to measure the productivity of our forests by the quantity of...