-The Hindu The ambitious plan to help farmers earn from solar power generation hinges on small details Electricity is a major concern in rural India, especially for farmers. The Government of India has come up with an original plan to address this problem. Instead of transmitting electricity to the farmers, the government, to start with, wants farmers to use solar energy to power their irrigation pumps. According to the January 2018 report...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has met a key demand of single-brand Retailers by relaxing a mandatory 30 per cent local sourcing condition. The change was announced along with the decision to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment under the automatic route for single-brand retail trading, which will help companies like Apple to set up branded stores across India. Foreign Retailers will now be permitted to set off their...

-The Indian Express Pesticide Management Bill should address the anomalies that prevent state governments from booking large pesticide companies. “Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter,” goes an old African proverb, which is also apt to describe the state of the world’s farmers. Farmers are like the hunted lions who need their side of the story told and their sacrifices, agony, courage and fears...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a clear indication of the nervousness over rising oil prices evoking popular anger, the government has asked state-run fuel Retailers to stop raising the price of subsidised cooking gas cylinders by Rs 4 a month. The order was issued in October, around the same time the government cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre to stave off rising consumer anger...

-Livemint.com Overall, while the government is trying to reform the fertilizer subsidy payment mechanism, the challenge is to make sure the new system works before implementation Union minister for chemicals and fertilizers Ananth Kumar’s ambitious plan to clear the fertilizer subsidy backlog before the implementation of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme next fiscal year (FY19) has come as surprise to many. The huge subsidy backlog (estimated at Rs35,000 crore as of FY17)...