-The Times of India NAGPUR: A third-generation farmer from a village in the Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra has found mention in the state revenue minister's address to the legislative council as an example for other farmers to emulate if they want to ward off penury and disaster. Sanjay Gandate, 31, now cultivates pearls in his 900sqm freshwater pond and leads the charge of innovation in the belt that is battling low-agricultural...

-The Hindu Agrarian distress has a cascading effect on all other businesses in the district ANANTAPUR (Andhra Pradesh): The year bygone, so far, has been one of sorrow for the poor of the district, with several of them committing suicide out of desperation and hopelessness. According to estimates of different political parties and social organisations, who have also done field level verification of the reports of suicides, no fewer than 150 suicides —...

-The Hindu Farmers are going hungry and dying under burden of debt, says Congress RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal drew sharp reactions from the Opposition in the Assembly on Thursday when he claimed that not a single farmer had killed himself due to agrarian reasons or mounting debts during the 12-year reign of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party. “Those who are talking of farmer suicides in Chhattisgarh are defaming the State. Chhattisgarh...

-The Hindu For the population as a whole, non-communicable diseases including cancers and digestive disease are bigger killers while infant mortality and diarrhoeal disease are reducing in impact, the data shows. Suicide and road accidents are the leading cause of death among young women and men respectively, new data from the Registrar General of India shows. For the population as a whole, non-communicable diseases including cancers and digestive disease are bigger killers...

-Civil Society Online Bhubaneswar: Laxman Goud, a 35-year-old farmer in Thakurpalli village in Komna block of Nuapada district of Odisha, used to lead a very simple life. He was a devoted follower of Mahima Dharma, a subaltern religion practised by underprivileged castes in Odisha. One morning, he took his life in desperation. He couldn’t repay Rs 19,000 he had borrowed from a local moneylender at 36 per cent interest. Goud had invested...