-The Hindu Business Line 1.5 times the defence budget may be needed for unproductive animals: Economist Rawal New Delhi: The ban on cow slaughter can pose a serious threat to the Indian economy in the near future, as the country may have to spend 1.5 times its current Defence Budget to take care of an additional 27 crore unproductive animals annually, an agricultural economist has warned. Speaking at a function organised by Bhumi Adhikar Andolan, a...

-The Hindu Business Line Urban-rural wage gap highest in the North-East and northern States New Delhi: That rural employment, particularly in the informal sector, will fetch lower incomes, does not always hold true. In fact, hired workers in the informal sector in rural Gujarat earned twice as much as their counterparts in urban areas, a recent report of the National Sample Survey Organisation show. Hired workers in rural Gujarat’s informal sectors earned about...

-The Hindu Business Line Record double-digit growth in FY17 Chennai: Indian tractor industry continues to witness strong momentum for higherhorsepower tractors due to multiple benefits in farm application. In the backdrop of demand recovery that culminated in a year of strong sales for the tractor industry, tractors of 40 HP and more recorded double digit growth in 2016-17. The domestic tractor market, which is the largest in the world by volumes, grew 18 per...

-The Hindu "Your job is to take steps to prevent farmers’ suicides and not go around distributing compensation after the suicides", the Supreme Court told the Tamil Nadu government on Friday. The court said the “actual job” of the government is to “directly address the ground reality of farmers suicides”. “Your approach has to be preventive and not compensatory,” a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A.M. Khanwilkar told Additional Solicitor General P....

-The Hindu Business Line Firms seen to be largely cooperating New Delhi: To clear confusion over the new prices of items under the Goods and Services Tax, the Finance Ministry is working to set up a National Anti-Profiteering Authority to curb any unwarranted price hikes. “The process for selection of members and the Chairman will start soon. We are working to ensure that the authority can be set up by early next month,...