-Business Standard A clear picture is likely to emerge only towards the end of June Mumbai: Rural distress owing to heavy unseasonal rains in March and the prospects of less-than-normal monsoon have made Bankers “a cautious lot” at the start of this financial year. However, it is too early to conclude that the impact of rains, or the lack of it, would be bad. According to public sector Bank executives, the assessment for...

A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit...

-Tehelka In these times of agrarian distress, NK Bhoopesh revisits the ‘revolution’ that changed Indian agriculture The growing number of farmer suicides across the country has punched holes in the dominant narrative of India’s rise as a global economic power articulated ad nauseum by big business, mainstream politicians and the corporate media. It has also put a question mark on another familiar tale: that the green revolution introduced in the 1960s was...

-The Hindu They should throw open their content for scrutiny on a daily basis. After the crackdown on NGOs, the government has turned the heat on 179 Community Radio (CR) stations operational in the country, struggling to remain on air on shoe-string budgets, by ordering them to throw open their content for scrutiny on a daily basis. This, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has proposed, should be done on an email. In an...

-The Times of India In the 21st century, why does the forecast of a deficient monsoon send the same ripple of fear through India as it would 5,000 years ago? The short answer is that for almost 40% of the population, agriculture has not changed — it is still dependent on the "rain god", or the South-West monsoon as it is known today. Here are the facts: about 46% of India's net...