-Outlook Corporate karza maafi reaches new heights, social spending new lows This year's budget write-off in customs duty on gold, diamonds and jewellery (all aam aadmi items, of course) is Rs 75,592 crore. That's well over twice the "record" amount allocated to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. As Prof Jayati Ghosh points out, the MNREGA has given billions of person-days of work to tens of millions of poor...

-Business Standard Though Indian agriculture has grown to be second largest globally, there are many myths and misconceptions. So, let's find the truth. Though the government over the past few years has been focusing on enhancing manufacturing sector's share to India's GDP, contribution of agriculture to the GDP continues to be higher than that of the manufacturing. India has in abundant four critical fundamental resources - light, land, water & labour. Contrary...

-BBC A controversial bill on land acquisition has caused uproar in India, with opponents saying it will hurt the interests of Farmers. The bill eases rules for acquiring land for specific projects. The government says it is aimed at kick-starting stalled projects across the country worth billions of dollars. Sanjoy Chakravorty, author of a book on conflicts over land in India, explains the issues. Why is land so important in India? Land is...

-The Indian Express The political discourse over land acquisition has proceeded in binary terms - industry versus Farmer, growth versus no growth - thereby obfuscating the real issue at the heart of the land acquisition debate: the fear of arbitrary exercise of state power in reshaping property relations in Indian society. Instead of tweaking the 2015 land acquisition bill with a few amendments here and there to appease political allies and...

-NDTV Yavatmal, Maharashtra: Another fresh spell of heavy unseasonal rains lashed large parts of Maharashtra on Sunday evening, again hitting the spirit of already-beleaguered Farmers. Many districts in Vidarbha, Marathawada and western Maharashtra were hit by strong showers and hailstorms accompanied by gusty winds, damaging the standing rabi crop. Wheat, soya bean, jowar and fruits like watermelon and grapes were all set to be harvested. But the fresh showers have further damaged...