-The Telegraph Why farmers worry when Bhutan lifts stones Saralpara (India-Bhutan border): Since the 1990s, Anarshi Iswary and nearly 500 other farmers from five villages here have been joining hands every Wednesday during the monsoon to build, repair or rebuild a makeshift stone dam on the Saralbhanga, flowing down the hills of Bhutan about 4km away. The Sarpang district administration in Bhutan gives permission with a condition: no digging of the riverbed. The nine-foot-tall...

-The Hindu Business Line The surge in non-farm employment has led to a rural consumption splurge, making listed companies bullish Is rural India languishing in abject misery, or is it on a cheerful spending spree? Today you can get diametrically opposing views on this, depending on where you get your information. If you are an avid follower of news, then you would be firmly in the pessimist camp, having read all about...

-The Indian Express As against this claim, the Reserve Bank of India's latest data shows that the public sector banks could recover a total of only Rs 15,786 crore in the fiscal year 2016-17 and 2017-18 till December 31 through all recovery channels, including IBC. The BJP claimed on its Twitter account on Saturday that the “Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016 has resulted in recovery of Rs 4 lakh crore out...

-Livemint.com Kerala govt’s aim is to build 500 sq. ft houses costing Rs4 lakh each, for which the state has tweaked the centre’s housing programme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Bengaluru: Building free houses for all the homeless in Kerala -- more than half-a-million at last count -- is one of the flagship projects of the Communist government. A cabinet meeting held on Tuesday night offers glimpses into the project’s nitty-gritty. The aim...

-The Hindu The approved methodology for auction of coal mines / blocks for sale will prioritise on transparency and ease of doing business. The Centre opened up commercial coal mining for the private sector on February 20. About 70% of power generated in India uses coal. Domestic coal has been able to meet only 75% of our annual coal demand. * What is the significance of the move? The government has termed it the...