-The Indian Express Kurki is attachment of farmers’ land by banks or arhtiyas/sahukars/traders (commission agents and PRIvate money lenders) in the event of non-payment of loan or debt. Two years after Punjab government notified a ban on kurkis or attachment of farmers’ land by banks in the event of their defaulting on loan payments, several such cases are taking place daily across districts in the state’s Malwa region. Here’s why. * What...

-The Telegraph PRIme Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech linked the decision to have small families to patriotism New Delhi: Narendra Modi's mention of "reckless population explosion" in his Independence Day address has led to speculation that the government may now want to bring a law on population regulation. “Population explosion has been occurring at an unrestrained pace. This population explosion is creating innumerable challenges for us and the coming...

-The Hindu Rice cultivation in Punjab, which thrived in the past due to the easy availability of water resources and free supply of electricity to farmers, is under considerable strain now. Vikas Vasudeva examines how overexploitation has made groundwater not only scarce but also increasingly alkaline. Gurmeet Singh, 60, a tall land-owning farmer in Bhattiwal Khurd village, which is located in Punjab’s Sangrur district, has yet again planted the water-guzzling paddy crop...

-The Telegraph Below-normal and drought are the new normal. Since 2012 there has only been one normal monsoon. Monsoons follow their own patterns, unpredictable as they may be. In the past, certain periods, spanning a decade or sometimes two, have had higher frequencies of droughts and at the moment, we seem to be stuck in such a cycle. Between 1900 and the year 2000, there was one drought per decade. But...

-Scroll.in Local reporters say the administration has shown systematic bias against them. To the rest of the world, Kashmiri newspapers have remained frozen in time. On their websites, Jammu and Kashmir is still a state, with its own constitution and special protections under Articles 370 and 35A. Kashmiri parties are still vowing to fight for special status and its leaders have just been put under house arrest. The websites had last been...