While the Maharashtra government must be relieved that Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader and Kolhapur MP Raju Shetty ended his five-day fast in Baramati on Saturday, after it agreed to a sugarcane procurement price hike, many wonder why the same state ignores the plight of its cotton farmers. In the same duration that Shetty sat on a fast 22 debt-ridden, Vidarbha cotton farmers committed suicide. One of these, Rajendra Lahiti of Dhamangaon,...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said rising prices of fuel were a reality Indians needed to deal with as any more subsidies in the oil sector could destabilise the economy. The comment came days after Mamata Banerjee, his biggest ally at the Centre, warned that her Trinamul Congress would quit the ruling UPA if prices of kerosene, diesel and cooking gas were raised. Asked what he thought of the Bengal chief minister’s...

Many people including members of Team Anna have expressed reservations about the way in which their campaign has been developing, and some have even resigned. This raises questions about the real aim of the leadership around Anna. Is it really what it is proclaimed to be? Is the aim to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed by parliament? Team Anna has repeatedly stated that they have just a one-point agenda: to get...

-Live Mint   In an unprecedented move, farmers in East Godavari and adjoining districts of Andhra Pradesh declared a crop holiday last season, refusing to cultivate paddy in this fully irrigated region of the state. Farmers say the reason for this drastic step is that cultivating paddy has become unremunerative and they are left with no other choice. The agrarian crisis and its neglect by successive governments are responsible for the low...

-The Telegraph   Sharad Pawar’s hometown Baramati was shut down today by farmers demanding higher remunerative prices for sugarcane. The protest by the farmers has sent a strong political message to the ruling Congress-NCP government. Baramati is the seat of Maharashtra’s powerful and influential sugar belt that controls the state politics. Shops and establishments were closed down as hundreds of sugarcane farmers camping here for the fourth consecutive day intensified their protest and organised rasta...