-Down to Earth Can pre-poll sops like giving smart phones with internet connectivity to farmers increase farm income? Last week, thousands of farmers and agricultural workers poured into the National Capital to attract and focus the attention of the Central government to their demands. The Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally, organised by farmers’ organization, All India Kisan Sabha, and the All India Agriculture Workers Union, broke all records as far as crowd numbers...

-National Herald Talking about farmers’ issues, P Sainath said, “It is not just an agrarian crisis, it is now a national crisis. The Modi govt has been engaged in fooling the nation. They are telling lies shamelessly” The founder editor of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), the former Rural Affairs editor of The Hindu and author of the much acclaimed book ‘Everybody loves a Good Drought’, P Sainath, has recorded rural...

-The Indian Express Supreme Court verdict on Section 377 will spark many more challenges to inequality, discrimination Today is an historic day for India. The Supreme Court has decriminalised sex between consenting adults in private under Section 377. With the judgment of the Supreme Court today, we, Indians, have attained a second azadi for those who have continued to be persecuted after Independence by the law enacted by the British in 1861. It...

-The Hindu The falling Indian rupee will make oil imports costlier and lead to a rise in fuel prices mumbai: After holding on for a day, the State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) again increased the price of petroleum products such as petrol and diesel in the country on Thursday. The prices of petrol and diesel touched a new high on Thursday with mumbai paying the maximum among the four metros. While petrol costs...

-The Hindu The government must stop storing millions of tonnes of foodgrains in the open under tarpaulins In India, the height of the rainy season is a time that one prays will pass — flooded roads, wet clothes, masses of insects and mould. No place is safe from the growth of fungi that spring up overnight. With the humidity in the air and the warmth of summer, all that fungi need is...