-The Times of India NAGPUR: A third-generation farmer from a village in the Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra has found mention in the state revenue minister's address to the legislative council as an example for other farmers to emulate if they want to ward off penury and disaster. Sanjay Gandate, 31, now cultivates pearls in his 900sqm freshwater pond and leads the charge of innovation in the belt that is battling low-agricultural...

-The Hindu Business Line A CAG report has laid bare the fact that rice millers have for decades reaped undue gains even as they failed to replenish the national food stock Much like rice spilling out of a tear in the sack, the country’s food procurement system has been leaking crores of rupees every year and impoverishing the government. Last week, in a report presented to Parliament the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG)...

-The Hindu ‘Agriculture sector is facing a lot of challenges due to recurrent droughts and floods’ The Centre is contemplating bringing in a viable insurance scheme for farmers given that the agriculture sector is facing a lot of challenges due to recurrent droughts, floods and other weather-related changes, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Thursday. Speaking at a national dialogue on ‘Innovative Extension System for Farmers Empowerment and...

-Civil Society Online Bhubaneswar: Laxman Goud, a 35-year-old farmer in Thakurpalli village in Komna block of Nuapada district of Odisha, used to lead a very simple life. He was a devoted follower of Mahima Dharma, a subaltern religion practised by underprivileged castes in Odisha. One morning, he took his life in desperation. He couldn’t repay Rs 19,000 he had borrowed from a local moneylender at 36 per cent interest. Goud had invested...

-DNA Despite a certain amount of progress in the past decade or so, the report points out glaring gaps in healthcare infrastructure in the country -- "low resource allocation, low emphasis on primary health care, poor utilisation of human resources," as Professor K Srinath Reddy, one of the co-authors said. Yet another report on India's troubled health care system pointed out the country's poor performance across health indicators, despite economic advantages....