-The Hindu Business Line Hyderabad: The number of farmer suicides in Telangana seems to have come down over the past few months. But the agriculture sector continues to suffer from severe distress, and a staggering 12,820 farmers who had taken the Rythu Bima insurance cover have died due to various reasons over the past year. “About Rs.640 crore of the aggregate sum assured has been paid to the kin of 12,820 farmers...

-The Financial Express When several NGOs and others protested against the GEAC report, the UPA's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh decided not to give the final go-ahead. As farmers under the umbrella of the Shetkari Sangathana start their civil disobedience movement and plant the banned Herbicide Tolerant (HT) GM seeds as well as Bt brinjal, chances are the authorities will treat this as yet another law and order issue and will arrest them;...

-The Indian Express On a suit filed by PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd, the Ahmedabad city civil court earlier this month had barred four farmers of Sabarkantha district — Bipin Patel, Chhabil Patel, Vinod Patel and Haribhai Patel — from growing and selling potatoes till April 26. Ahmedabad: Leading rights groups and individuals working for farmers’ rights in the country have sought Central government’s intervention to protect at least nine farmers...

-The Hindu Business Line Vote shares are generally higher in rural India, because of the centrality of political power in meeting the needs of communities Well before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls have reached the half-way mark there has been a firm reaffirmation of the sharp differences between the urban and the rural voter. The levels of participation of rural voters in Karnataka’s polling have once again been far greater than that...

-National Herald Well-known Belgian-Indian economist Jean Drèze, reflects on the times we live in this animated conversation with Ujjawal Krishnam Jean Drèze, the Belgian-Indian economist, true to his reputation, laces humour and an acerbic wit to reflect on the times we live in. Self deprecating, he brushes aside the question how he juggles between his roles as economist, activist and teacher. He wonders at the multi-tasking ability of Indian women instead. Nor...