-The Hindu Electric buses to be revamped after Sabarimala season THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will launch 10 zero-emission and noiseless air-conditioned battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the Thiruvananthapuram- Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram route from February 1. The environment-friendly Olectra-BYD’s electric bus, manufactured under the ‘Make in India’ initiative and wet-leased by the KSRTC for 10 years, is being deployed on the corridor after its successful chain service operations from November 17 on...

-The Hindu Business Line In an effort to reintroduce the bill seeking amendments in the Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, the Maharashtra government has started discussions with stakeholders, including farmers’ leaders, traders and mathadi workers (head loaders). In the first meeting recently conducted by State Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, farmers’ leaders and traders reached an agreement on scrapping cess on the produce brought and traded in Agriculture Produce Market Committee...

-The Indian Express According to the annual report of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), as much as Rs 11,905.89 crore was collected by 11 private sector insurers as premium, but they faced insurance claims of only Rs 8,831.78 crore. mumbai: ELEVEN private insurers are set to register profits of over Rs 3,000 crore cumulatively from crop insurance business for the year-ending March 2018 as against the Rs...

-The Indian Express As there are 21.6 crore small and marginal farmers — most of whom are not in a position to repay the loan or put collateral — such a scheme is the only way to support their fund requirements, apart from ensuring market prices for their produce. mumbai: The NDA government is considering a package of proposals for the distressed agriculture sector that includes interest-free loans, loans without collateral...

-The Hindu With no will to enforce the 1982 Act, girls from marginalised communities in Karnataka are still trafficked Panaji: More than thirty-six years after the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act of 1982 was passed, the State government is yet to issue the rules for administering the law. Meanwhile the practice of dedicating young girls to temples as an offering to appease the gods persists not just in Karnataka, but has...