-The New Indian Express BARIPADA: At a time when the entire State is reeling under water scarcity, the Mayurbhanj administration has implemented an innovative water supply project that runs without electricity. Apparently, the irrigation-cum-drinking water project is first of its kind in the State and has been implemented in six hilly villages - Mudrajodi, Digdiga, Askinala, Kumarinala, Keonjhar and Sitakunj - of Shyamakhunta and Jashipur blocks under the Integrated Action Plan. It...

-The Financial Express Rising dole hits both investment and productivity With around Rs 175,000-180,000 crore of annual expenditure on agriculture subsidies, the government probably feels it is doing a lot for the farmers and, come election time, will probably boast about it to get the rural vote. Yet, as an Icrier analysis at its ‘Supporting Indian farms the smart way’ workshop shows, not only is the rising subsidy not helping agriculture as...

-The Indian Express Every crisis produces its fall guy. This time, it is sugarcane that’s bearing the brunt of the blame for drought, especially in Maharashtra’s worst-affected Marathwada region. Sugarcane, no doubt, requires 2,100-2,200 mm of water, more than the 1,400 mm or so for paddy, 900 mm for cotton, 600 mm for jowar (sorghum) and arhar (pigeon-pea), 550 mm for wheat, and under 500 mm for soyabean and chana (chickpea). But then,...

-The Hindu Business Line Firms of Adani, Anil Ambani, Essar, JSW Groups and some PSUs being probed NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) are said to have stepped up investigations into the alleged over-invoicing of coal imports by 40 companies — both in the public and private sector — to the tune of Rs. 35,000 crore. “It is an issue that has been going on for the...

Amidst the prevailing gloominess over agrarian crisis, a recently released report says that the growth rate of agricultural output in both India and China were the same during 2008-2013. The agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) of both these countries on an average grew at 3.3 percent per annum during that period. The latest available data from the 2016 Global Food Policy Report, however, indicates that the neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka...