-TheWire.in Researchers have found that small and marginal farmers and Dalit landless Labourers are worst affected by the region's agrarian distress. Sangrur/Patiala (Punjab): In the villages of Punjab, strike a conversation on farming  expenses with anyone, and they will say, “Karja tan hai hi (Of course, we have taken loans).” It’s these loans – from both institutional and non-institutional sources – that largely help the rural economy run in the state. But...

-ThePrint.in The Khalistan movement in the 1980s may have limited support for Punjab’s Sikhs in the battle with the Indira Gandhi govt. But in Modi govt's farm laws, they have a worthy cause. The ongoing farmers’ protest against the Narendra Modi government’s new agricultural laws isn’t just a battle to secure a legal guarantee for minimum support price, or seek repeal of the three legislations. The battle is also to stop India’s...

-Hindustan Times The anti-CAA protests, the defiance of migrants, and now the farmers’ stir show that the everyday practice of democracy is a powerful corrective in the face of arbitrary and unilateral State decisions Three events defined India’s political landscape in 2020. The protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the migrant Labour crisis that unfolded as workers defied lockdown orders and asserted their rights, choosing to walk home in the face...

-The Hindu Long shifts and failure to resolve payment and overtime issues allegedly led to the violence by the workers in an iPhone factory in Narasapura earlier this month. Sharath S. Srivatsa reports on the night of the unrest and the many violations of Labour rules by Wistron Anxiety writ large on their faces, Abhishek and Sunil walk into a small playground littered with garbage. Their attentive eyes scan the area to...

-The Hindu “Economic conditions continued to improve through November on the back of the uptick in agriculture and manufacturing,” RBI officials say in an article in the central bank’s monthly bulletin. There is now more evidence to show that the Indian economy “is pulling out of COVID-19’s deep abyss and is reflating” at a pace that beats most predictions, RBI officials, including Deputy Governor Michael Patra, said in an article in the...