-The Hindu The pursuit of full employment of labour cannot primarily rely on domestic private investment, much less FDI. Only public investment will steady us in the long run. We are increasingly told that the inflow of capital — particularly the foreign direct investment (FDI) variety — increases employment levels and contributes to economic growth. In a rare interview given to The Wall Street Journal in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reinforced...

-The Telegraph First Alisha, now Raghunathpur. The post-Singur verdict demand for return of land today spread to Purulia's Raghunathpur, where around 3,000 farmers launched an agitation to get back 6,300 acres acquired from them for an industrial park that is yet to come up. The Left government had acquired over 7,420 acres for the proposedRaghunathpur Steel and Allied Industrial Park between 2007 and 2010. Of this, various companies have taken possession of 2,915...

-Livemint.com New system to settle dues to fertilizer firms within a week, record detailed transaction data at time of sale New Delhi: The direct benefits transfer (DBT) scheme for fertilizers that will go on trial in eight districts this month will not entail what its name suggests— the transfer of cash to farmers’ bank accounts. Under the direct transfer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy, customers pay the entire amount for cooking...

-The Indian Express The incidence of farmers taking their own lives is higher in regions where cooperative banks are the weakest. Nanded (Maharashtra): The verdant soyabean fields at Digras today are a far cry from the barren landscape they presented only a few months ago. But for residents of this village in Ardhapur taluka of Nanded district, the memories of drought in three out of the last four years will not fade...

-The Indian Express India should learn from China and start with liberalisation of rural land, labour and capital markets before attempting bigger things. Independence Day has come and gone with its usual mix of celebrations, pride and ruminations on how things could be better. Interestingly, several media commentaries tagged the event with the 25th anniversary of economic reforms, launched in 1991 around the same time of the year. They largely dwelt on the theme...