-Down to Earth Farmers are in distress owing to low farm prices, poor logistics for transport and government-assured purchases The concept of ‘the more, the merrier’ doesn’t apply to farm produce and farmers’ state as much as the government thinks. Increasing production can’t be directly translated into better financial situation of farmers. According to the agriculture ministry latest estimates, in 2017-18, the total horticulture production of the country was 307.2 million tonnes, which...

-The Hindu Clause on listing ingredients dropped. A group of Indian pesticide manufacturers says that the proposed Pesticides Management Bill, which is likely to be finalised this month, will harm both farmers and the domestic industry by not making it mandatory for the active ingredients of pesticides to be revealed in the registration process. “The draft Bill will allow importers to register readymade products without registering the active ingredients,” said Pradip Dave, President...

-PTI Currency with the public has reached a record high level of over Rs 18.5 lakh crore, more than double from a low of about Rs 7.8 lakh crore it had hit post-demonetisation decision in late 2016, as per RBI data. At the same time, the total currency put in circulation by the Reserve Bank has also more than doubled to over Rs 19.3 lakh crore -- from a low of about...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Labour ministry’s quarterly employment survey (QES), which provides for the number of jobs created in eight sectors that account for over 80% of the country’s total organised workforce, has been put on the backburner owing to the more recent payroll data which has projected much higher number of jobs created in the organised sector than the labour bureau survey shows. According to the government’s first-ever estimate of...

-The Hindu The court-ordered clean-up in the textile town has managed to mitigate ill-effects of industrial pollution to a large extent. A similar remediation effort, involving the government and stakeholders, is needed in other parts of Tamil Nadu, where groundwater has been so contaminated that farming is not possible anymore On a sunny June morning, two men are spotted fishing close to the Orathupalayam dam in Erode district. A rather ordinary act in...