Web Wire

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd , part of the USD 20.7 billion Mahindra Group and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), a media and entertainment powerhouse celebrated International Women’s Day with the release of a nationwide campaign on Prerna.

Mint

The tenure of the incumbent National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has seen a sharp deterioration in the quality and credibility of the official statistical system. This has been the case for most variables, including data on agriculture, national accounts and other information on macroeconomic aggregates. A clear example of this is the case of the employment-unemployment data of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), which has been withheld. It is now more or less certain that the report will not be released before the general elections are over, with the government setting up a committee to examine the findings of the survey report. While there has been some debate and public outcry on several of these statistical reports, ...

Business Standard

The National Green Tribunal has refused to modify its order slapping a fine of Rs 20 crore on Rajasthan government for not taking proper action to control pollution in the Bandi river by local textile industries.

Business Standard

Farmers’ body ICCFM Thursday said political parties should include various demands, such as Rs 5,000 monthly pension and an additional income support under the PM-Kisan scheme, in their election manifestos.

Narendra Modi

‘Putting Farmer First’ has been the motto of the government led by PM Narendra Modi. For BJP government, whether in centre or in states, farmer’s welfare has been of utmost importance. To ensure that the farmer reaps good yields, focus on strengthening production and productivity is imperative.

Down To Earth

Narratives of agrarian distress in economies that depend on agriculture to a great extent have unfortunately become familiar. India has 86 per cent small and marginal farmers, who own less than 2 hectares of farmland. More than 60 per cent of the country’s population depends on agriculture and allied activities for livelihood. Though there are multiple drivers of risk in such a situation, it has become apparent that the fate of Indian farmers is linked to the vagaries of nature. In particular, the occurrence of drought creates social and cultural disruptions across farming households, and brings about huge economic losses.

Krishijagran.com

Gene editing is a new, efficient and a promising technology which has unbelievable potential in the fields of medicine and agriculture, but in India it is still in its nascent stage. Indian research community has developed capability to do genome editing with ease owing to the past technical exposure and experience with GM crop research, molecular data generation and safety assessment. This technology can offer enormous benefits to address the problems of local and commercial crops. If appropriate handling of political and democratic issues is not addressed in a timely manner, then the benefits of the technology will be lost. The probability of experiencing the same fate for the release of gene editing crops will be high as ...

Krishijagran.com

Indian agro-tech startup ‘AgroStar’, based in Pune said that it has raised a dollar 27 million (Rs. 188 crore) in Series C funds to expand operations and strengthen its technology platform. Bertelsmann India Investments led the funding round along with its existing investors Accel, Chiratae Ventures & Aavishkaar Bharat Fund.

UNI

Over the last almost eight years, agriculture and hence, the rural economy has been given a big push in Bengal. Production has been increased to 178.47, 4.44 & 11.33 lakh metric tonnes (MT), respectively, in financial year (FY) 2017-18, against 172.77, 2.76 and 8.94 lakh MT, respectively, in FY 2016-17. In FY 2018-19, Rs 125.81 crore is being spent as subsidy to farmers for purchase of equipments, of which Rs 58.87 crore is being utilised for the establishment of 380 Custom Hiring Centres

DNA

Projections can go wrong. In the late 1980s, Japan was regarded as the next economic superpower. Thirty years later, Japan’s economy is stagnant and its population growth negative. China overtook Japan’s GDP in 2011. Eight years later, its economy is more than double Japan’s.