-Hindustan Times Access to formal credit can be a major game-changer in determining farm-incomes. It is to be expected that richer farmers would find it easier to avail of formal credit lines. What ails Indian farmers? The answer to this question is often mired in ideological quarrels. Some blame a lack of reforms in agricultural markets, while others accuse the state of not doing enough to support farming. Systemic issues are...

-The Indian Express In fact, endemic blocks have increased from 61 to 68 in 17 districts of Bihar and Jharkhand. New Delhi: India has missed the 2017 deadline that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced for elimination of Kala Azar (black fever) in his Budget speech last year. In fact, endemic blocks have increased from 61 to 68 in 17 districts of Bihar and Jharkhand. The matter was taken up at a meeting...

-The Indian Express Linking it to ration cards ends up denying poor their rightful entitlements In September 2017, 11-year-old Santoshi, resident of Simdega district of Jharkhand, succumbed to starvation. According to her mother, she died “asking for rice, but there was not a single grain at home”. She was deprived of her subsidised ration as her family’s ration card was cancelled because it was not linked to Aadhaar. Marandi in Jharkhand met...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Aadhaar issuer, which had lodged a police complaint against The Tribune newspaper and its reporter Rachna Khaira for a report on the sale of Aadhaar data, appeared to backtrack on Monday after a tweet by its minister. On January 4, the newspaper had published a report saying racketeers were selling access to Aadhaar data for Rs 500, which would enable buyers to open fake bank accounts or...

-The Indian Express Far from reducing opacity in how politics is financed, this new vehicle merely legitimizes it. It is an open SECret that political finance in India is, to put it mildly, a sordid affair. When it comes to political contributions, opacity reigns. The situation is not much better when it comes to expenditure, as candidates regularly declare laughably small amounts of campaign spending in order to give the appearance...