-The Indian Express According to the agriculture ministry’s second advance estimates of crop production for this year, total foodgrain output will surpass the previous all-time-high of 2013-14. India’s production of foodgrains and oilseeds is expected to hit record levels in 2016-17 on the back of a normal southwest monsoon and a decent winter, which would more than offset the impact, if any, of demonetisation. According to the agriculture ministry’s second advance estimates of...

-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court observed on Thursday that the statements of some witnesses and the recovery of women's undergarments indicate that rapes had taken place at Murthal during the Jat quota protests in February 2016. The court asked the state police special investigation team to find the culprits to instill confidence in the public. A division bench made these observations in open court. The judges also...

-Hindustan Times Chandigarh: ON FARM FRONT Food security of the nation continues to be in the hands of Punjab that contributes the maximum share of wheat to the central pool but its farmers need reforms, not sops, to find a way out of the debt trap. Haryana started at a disadvantage but is gaining ground though the state govt’s role leaves much to be desired. Punjab awaits another revolution The tumultuous trifurcation of Punjab...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With 927 incidents of child rapes reported in 2015, Delhi has no doubt become most unsafe for children. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, at least three cases of rape took place every day in 2015, though police and child rights activists agree that the actual number could be much bigger. With Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act facilitating the registration of...

-The Indian Express While crimes against Dalits are increasing, the state has time and again let them down, with little action against the perpetrators. Atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are a regular feature of the caste-based Indian society and distressingly, of late, they have begun increasing. What is ironical is that only recently, the country commemorated the 125th birth anniversary of B .R. Ambedkar, the icon of the...