-The Hindu Business Line Trade body says Government should focus on boosting oilseeds output for self-sufficiency Bengaluru: As demand takes a beating and imports slump amidst a bearish price trend, the edible oil sector feels the Centre should launch the national mission on edible oilseeds to boost domestic production and achieve self-sufficiency. India depends on imports to meet about 70 per cent of its edible oil requirement, estimated at around 23 million tonnes....

-PTI/ The Hindu Business Line Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is on the verge of collapse, and urged major industries to release the outstanding dues to such companies within a month. He said that the position of MSMEs was the “worst” as they were now engaged in a “battle for their survival”. The Minister also noted that the pendency of dues owed...

-Mongabay.com * The nationwide lockdown has affected the economy of India’s tribal population, which depends highly on the sale of minor forest products. * However, state Governments are hoping things will become normal soon as the lockdown norms get relaxed in the coming days. Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel even praised the tribal population in his state for maintaining social distancing properly. * Experts and organisations working with tribal communities demand removal or...

-The Indian Express Mani Shankar Aiyar writes: Planning for withstanding the ingress of COVID-19 requires the full deployment of the mechanisms for district planning envisaged in Article 243 ZD involving all three tiers of the panchayats and the municipalities brought together in the district planning committee An unintended but welcome consequence of the struggle against COVID-19 is that the “confrontational federalism” that has characterised the Centre’s relations with the states, especially those...

-Scroll.in Sahariya Adivasis in Madhya Pradesh have suggestions for the Modi Government. Huddled under a tree in Pahadgarh at half past noon on May 2, the women seemed to be waiting patiently for their turn. Perhaps there was a bank around the corner, I wondered, and they were waiting to withdraw the Rs 500-coronavirus lockdown allowance that the central Government had sent to the bank accounts of women under the Jan Dhan...