-The Hindu Business Line Falling farm prices, drying up of industrial jobs and lesser MGNREGA work have sharpened rural discontent. The Budget cannot ignore these factors in a year of 8 State polls The year 2017 was roiled by rural discontent. After two consecutive drought years (2014-15 and 2015-16), when agriculture growth plummeted (see table), the countryside was awash with hope after a good monsoon in 2016-17. However, record foodgrain output (272 million...
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What to expect in 2018 from the farm sector: prices could hold key to several political fortunes -Harish Damodaran & Parthasarathi Biswas
-The Indian Express Agricultural prices crashed in April-June, just when a bumper rabi crop had been harvested after two years of drought, and despite demonetisation. 2017 was agriculture’s annus horribilis. The reason wasn’t monsoon failure (as in 2014 and 2015) or unseasonal rain and hail (as in March 2015); the year was, in fact, largely free of extreme weather events, resulting in a record output of wheat, pulses, cotton, potato and a...
More »Law aiding Monsanto is reason for Delhi's annual smoke season -Arvind Kumar
-TheSundayGuardianLive.com Delhi’s problem of being covered by smoke started right after the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act in 2009, which delayed the burning of crops till late October, was implemented for the first time. Until a few years ago, when farmers in Punjab burnt the remnants of the rice crops in their fields in preparation for sowing wheat, the smoke from such fires was confined to Punjab. Back then, farmers burnt...
More »Huge push likely for MGNREGS rural jobs scheme in 2018 -Yatish Yadav
-The New Indian Express NEW DELHI: The last full Budget of the NDA government is likely to give a major push to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by earmarking more funds for it. Sources said Budget 2018-19 will allocate around 20 per cent more for the rural jobs scheme compared to last year. The flagship scheme, started by Manmohan Singh’s UPA regime, is benefiting about 11 crore active...
More »Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch nutrition mission -Syed Intishab Ali
-The Times of India JAIPUR: To reduce the level of stunting, undernutrition, anemia and low birth weight in babies, the Centre has included 24 districts of Rajasthan in the first phase of National Nutrition Mission (NMM), which is expected to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu on January 22. In the first phase, 315 districts from different states will be taken up. In the second, 235 districts will be...
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