-Livemint.com New Government data show India saw fewer cases of farmers taking their lives in 2018 than the year before. But this doesn’t mean rural distress is down. Much needs to be done It is tempting to relate the decline in the number of farmer suicides in 2018, as reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), to an abatement in rural distress. Such a temptation should, however, be tempered. There have...

-The Indian Express Cotton growers are realising decent rates despite bumper crop this time, thanks to Government procurement. Aurangabad: In early-November, when Satyakumar Kolhe went to sell 18 out of his total 35 quintals produce of kapas (raw un-ginned cotton) at the Ambad wholesale market in Jalna district, the traders there quoted an average price of Rs 4,500 per quintal. The 45-year-old from Guru Pimpari village of Jalna’s Ghansawangi taluka, who grew...

-The Indian Express The exercise — Houselisting Operations of Census 2021 — will also seek data, for the first time, on smartphones, piped gas connections and mobile numbers. Amid fears expressed by the Opposition and states such as West Bengal and Kerala over the National Population Register (NPR), the Government Thursday notified another pre-Census exercise that will seek new information on household consumption, including the use of cereals. The exercise — Houselisting Operations...

-The Hindu While opening up the coal mining sector, the govt. must protect the interests of Coal India The Centre’s decision to liberalise norms for entry into coal mining and relax regulations on mining and selling coal in the country is significant in many respects. Amendments to two legacy Acts through the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday will free the sector from restrictions that were inhibiting...

-The Hindu The Centre-State conflict over CAA in some places may lead to a fresh debate on the federal question The recent political developments around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) have revealed some of the most significant crevices of Indian federalism. Soon after the protests erupted, several State Governments occupied by Opposition parties or partners of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared that they would...