-The Hindu Business Line An analysis of how agri concerns will play out in four poll-bound States this year has some key takeaways for politicians ‘Rural distress’ became the major economic narrative to interpret the recent Assembly elections results for Gujarat, specifically the fact that rural support for the incumbent government was considerably less than the support from cities. The woes of the rural sector could be a bigger issue this year. Of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Be prepared for a hot spring and a scorching summer. The Met office says average temperatures from March to May across half the country are likely to be above normal by more than 1 degree Celsius. These months are expected to be particularly merciless in north India. Delhi, along with Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, is likely to see average temperatures soar over 1.5 degrees above normal....

-Livemint.com Linking MSPs to a multiple of costs and ignoring other dynamics, such as demand and global prices, risks creating distortions and disincentivizing productivity Government policymaking seems to be making a volte-face from supporting consumers (by keeping food inflation low), to supporting producers (by raising food prices). In the 2018-19 Union budget, the government “decided to keep minimum support prices (MSP) for all unannounced crops of kharif at least at one-and-a-half times of...

-Hindustan Times Prioritise universal access of food grains since those dying of starvation are mainly the marginalised Forty-four-year-old mother, Amir Jahan, epitomised gallantry this Republic Day. There was not a morsel of food at home. So, while the nation celebrated, she quietly borrowed six rotis from a neighbour and distributed them equally among her three daughters, though she hadn’t eaten for four days. That night Amir died of starvation. In the first month...

-Business Standard The revenue tax collected in the affected villages had been suspended till further order Raipur: Scanty rains during the kharif 2017 had affected over 1.1 million farmers in Chhattisgarh. The opposition Congress members today informed in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly that 1104767 farmers from 11297 villages have been affected by drought. In all, 1028657.812 hectares area had remained dry due to short rainfall. The state government accepted the figure and...