Shashikant Warishe was mowed down allegedly by the subject of his last report on a controversial refinery - Newslaundry “He was the only journalist who covered the refinery protests…From the time the protests began until now, he covered everything…other newspapers barely gave coverage to the issue. People here liked him a lot because he was the sole journalist who cared about their issues.” That’s how Dipak Joshi remembers his friend Shashikant Warishe,...

Economic Times Unilever global chief executive Alan Jope said high inflation impacted demand from low income consumers in Indian villages even as growth remains stronger in cities. "The market growth in India remains stronger in urban areas than in rural areas and that reflects the high impact of high food inflation on low income consumers. We are seeing rural markets broadly flat in value terms with lower volumes," Jope said during its...

Economic Times A parliamentary panel has asked the government to increase financial assistance provided under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) to help beneficiaries in completion of houses and improve monitoring of houses being constructed under the flagship scheme. The 30-member committee on estimates, headed by BJP MP Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, asked the ministry of rural development to revise the financial assistance provided to help beneficiaries in timely completion of houses sanctioned. The...

A coalition of civil society activits has criticized the Union Budget 2023-24 for reducing government spending on the social sector by a massive amount. The economic crisis induced by the Covid-19 pandemic was borne disproportionately by those at the bottom of the pyramid and in this context spending on social protection schemes such as the Public Distribution System, anganwadis, pensions and MGNREGA is especially important. But the Government of India has...

Wheat prices have stayed stubborny high in India, despite several steps by the government including an export ban and announcing open market prices. - Mint Official figures show that daily retail wheat flour (atta) prices as on 1 February were 22% higher year on year, while wholesale prices were 31% higher. Wheat prices have Been inching up through 2022 after a heat wave cut production and pushed the government to ban exports...